Industrial Relations Consulting
Expert IR advisory for enterprise bargaining, Modern Awards, and Fair Work compliance.
LevelUp is one of Australia’s most experienced employer-side Industrial Relations consulting firms, with deep hands-on expertise across the full IR framework: enterprise bargaining, Modern Award interpretation, wage compliance, union negotiations and Fair Work Commission proceedings. We work with employers in construction, mining, manufacturing and professional services who face significant IR complexity and cannot afford to get it wrong. LevelUp doesn’t just advise. We represent, draft, negotiate and execute, and we cover both the national system and the Western Australian state system.
About Industrial Relations at LevelUp
Industrial Relations in Australia is governed by one of the most technically complex legislative frameworks in the developed world. The Fair Work Act 2009, together with the National Employment Standards, over 120 Modern Awards, enterprise agreements, and the Fair Work Commission’s evolving interpretation of these instruments, creates a compliance environment where errors carry serious financial and reputational consequences.
For employers in high-risk industries, construction, mining, manufacturing, and professional services, the stakes are particularly high. Wage underpayment liabilities, enterprise agreement breaches, and adverse Fair Work Commission decisions can cost millions of dollars and significantly disrupt operations. The introduction of the Closing Loopholes legislation has further tightened obligations around casual conversion, labour hire, and right to disconnect, requiring employers to review and update their arrangements.
LevelUp’s IR consultants bring decades of combined experience across all aspects of the Australian IR framework. We work directly alongside employers through every stage of the IR lifecycle, from proactive compliance auditing and enterprise bargaining preparation through to managing complex disputes, protected industrial action, and Fair Work Commission proceedings. Our approach is practical, outcome-focused, and grounded in real-world industry experience.
We work with employers who value a trusted IR partner, someone who understands their industry, knows their workforce, and can navigate the political and commercial dimensions of IR management alongside the legal ones. LevelUp’s membership tiers provide ongoing IR support with guaranteed response times, ensuring you have expert advice available when time-sensitive IR situations arise.
How LevelUp can help
- Advising on Modern Award obligations, coverage, classifications, and entitlements, including penalty rates, allowances, and annual wage review impacts
- Preparing for and conducting enterprise bargaining negotiations, including developing your log of claims, communication strategy, and negotiating team
- Drafting enterprise agreements and supporting the full Fair Work Commission approval process, including BOOT analysis and the new multi-enterprise bargaining framework
- Conducting wage compliance audits to identify and quantify underpayments, develop remediation plans, and advise on self-disclosure strategy
- Managing union relationships, right of entry requests, and day-to-day IR interactions in unionised and partially-unionised workplaces
- Representing employers in Fair Work Commission proceedings, including conciliations, arbitrations, and jurisdictional objections
- Advising on protected industrial action, including applications to suspend or terminate action and contingency planning for operational continuity
- Reviewing and restructuring employment arrangements, including casual, labour hire, and contractor relationships, in light of Closing Loopholes obligations
Topics covered
- Enterprise Agreements
- Enterprise Bargaining
- Good Faith Bargaining
- Better Off Overall Test (BOOT)
- Modern Awards
- National Employment Standards
- Union Negotiations
- Wage Compliance
- Protected Industrial Action
- Right of Entry
- Fair Work Act
Work we have done
Real engagements. Anonymised to industry level.
EBA renewal for a civil drainage contractor.
LevelUp’s Phase 1 compliance audit of the expiring agreement identified six clauses carrying critical legal risk and thirteen requiring amendment, including missing Workplace Delegates’ Rights and Right to Disconnect terms the Commission now requires. We ran the BOOT pre-assessment, benchmarked comparator agreements across the sector, and delivered a clean, approval-ready agreement.
Payroll compliance for a precast manufacturer.
Three disconnected platforms between rostering, time capture and payroll were producing a systematic Saturday penalty misinterpretation. LevelUp traced the error to its source, quantified the exposure, corrected the interpretation and tested the annualised arrangements against the BOOT.
Major hospital project agreement.
LevelUp advised the employer side on a union project agreement, resolving casual loading structure, casual RDO ambiguity and unusually broad casual conversion terms before they became embedded cost.
Contractor workforce review.
For an organisation with sole-operator contractors engaged continuously for up to twenty years, LevelUp built a sham contracting stress test against the Fair Work Act whole of relationship test, using BAS and income concentration evidence rather than contract wording, and delivered a risk-ranked remediation pathway.
Industrial Relations topic areas
LevelUp covers every major topic within industrial relations.
Enterprise Agreements
Negotiating, drafting, and obtaining Fair Work Commission approval for enterprise agreements that deliver operational flexibility while meeting legal requirements. LevelUp advises on agreement structure, content strategy, and the Better Off Overall Test, and manages the full approval process including employee voting, Fair Work Commission lodgement, and post-approval implementation. We have extensive experience drafting agreements across construction, mining, and manufacturing sectors.
Enterprise Bargaining
Preparing for bargaining from first principles, developing your log of claims, assessing your union and workforce relationships, designing your negotiating strategy, and managing the process through to agreement. LevelUp provides hands-on bargaining support including attending negotiating sessions, advising on good faith bargaining obligations, and helping employers navigate the commercial and political dimensions of enterprise bargaining.
Good Faith Bargaining
Understanding and meeting your good faith bargaining obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009, including attending meetings, disclosing relevant information, responding to proposals, and refraining from capricious or unfair conduct. Failure to bargain in good faith can result in a bargaining order from the Fair Work Commission. LevelUp helps employers design a bargaining approach that meets these obligations without compromising their negotiating position.
Better Off Overall Test (BOOT)
Designing enterprise agreement terms that pass the BOOT and securing Fair Work Commission approval. The BOOT requires the Commission to be satisfied that each employee covered by the agreement would be better off overall than under the applicable Modern Award. LevelUp conducts detailed BOOT analysis across every affected award classification, identifies exposure points, and helps design agreement terms that achieve approval while delivering the operational outcomes employers need.
Modern Awards
Interpreting award coverage, entitlements, classifications, and obligations across all industry and occupation awards. Over 120 Modern Awards apply to Australian workers, and determining which award applies to your workforce, and what it requires, is a specialised task. LevelUp helps employers understand their award obligations, manage annual wage review impacts, and interpret complex clauses around overtime, penalties, and allowances.
National Employment Standards
Ensuring your employment arrangements comply with all 12 minimum employment standards under the Fair Work Act 2009. The NES sets floors for hours of work, leave, flexible working, parental leave, notice, and redundancy pay that cannot be undercut by any contract or agreement. LevelUp reviews employment documentation and practices to identify NES compliance gaps and implements corrections that reduce legal exposure.
Union Negotiations
Managing relationships with unions and employee representatives through enterprise bargaining and day-to-day IR management. LevelUp advises on union right of entry obligations, managing union communication strategies, responding to log of claims, and navigating the political dynamics of unionised workplaces. We help employers build productive union relationships that reduce industrial conflict without compromising management prerogative.
Wage Compliance
Auditing pay practices, identifying underpayments, and implementing compliant payroll and classification systems. Wage theft is now a criminal offence under the Fair Work Act, and regulatory scrutiny from the Fair Work Ombudsman has significantly increased. LevelUp conducts structured wage compliance audits across your award classifications, annualised salary arrangements, and payroll system outputs, and develops remediation plans that quantify exposure and reduce regulatory risk.
Protected Industrial Action
Advising on the management of protected industrial action, including contingency planning, applications to suspend or terminate action, and communication strategies with employees and the broader workforce. Protected industrial action can significantly disrupt operations in construction, mining, and manufacturing, LevelUp helps employers prepare and respond effectively.
Right of Entry
Managing union right of entry requests and ensuring your obligations and rights under the Fair Work Act are properly maintained. Right of entry provisions are often a source of dispute in unionised workplaces. LevelUp advises on permit conditions, notice requirements, the scope of what union officials can do on site, and how to manage disputes where permits are exercised unlawfully.
Fair Work Act
Practical, applied guidance on the Fair Work Act 2009 across the full range of employer obligations, from general protections and adverse action provisions through to the Closing Loopholes amendments covering casual conversion, labour hire, and the right to disconnect. LevelUp translates legislative complexity into clear, actionable guidance that your managers and HR teams can apply with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about industrial relations consulting in Australia.
What is Industrial Relations consulting?
Industrial Relations (IR) consulting involves advising employers on their rights and obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009, the National Employment Standards, Modern Awards and enterprise agreements. LevelUp’s IR consultants assist with enterprise bargaining, award interpretation, wage compliance audits, union management and representation in Fair Work Commission proceedings. Unlike legal firms, LevelUp combines legal knowledge with practical HR and operational expertise to deliver end-to-end IR support. We don’t hand you an advice letter and leave. We run the process with you.
What is an enterprise agreement and why does it matter?
An enterprise agreement is a collective agreement negotiated between an employer and their employees, and sometimes a union, that sets out wages and conditions of employment. Enterprise agreements must be approved by the Fair Work Commission and must pass the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT). A well-designed enterprise agreement can provide operational flexibility, simplify award compliance and reduce payroll complexity. A poorly drafted agreement can create significant long-term financial liability and be difficult to exit.
What is the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT)?
The BOOT is the test applied by the Fair Work Commission when assessing whether an enterprise agreement can be approved. The Commission must be satisfied that each affected employee would be better off overall under the agreement than under the applicable Modern Award. This is a global comparison across all monetary and non-monetary entitlements. LevelUp conducts detailed BOOT analysis across every affected award classification and designs agreement terms that achieve approval while delivering the operational outcomes your business needs.
How do Modern Awards apply to my business?
Modern Awards set minimum pay rates, penalty rates, allowances and other conditions for employees in specific industries and occupations. Most employees are covered by a Modern Award unless they have a guarantee of annual earnings above the high income threshold ($190,100 per year from 1 July 2026, indexed annually) or are covered by an enterprise agreement. Determining which award applies requires careful assessment of the industry classification and the employee’s duties. The consequences of misclassification include significant underpayment liability, and misclassification is the single most common root cause we find in wage audits.
What should I do if my business has underpaid employees?
If you identify or suspect underpayments, act quickly and carefully. Intentional underpayment of wages and entitlements became a criminal offence under the Fair Work Act on 1 January 2025, and the Fair Work Ombudsman has significantly increased audit activity. Payday super also commenced on 1 July 2026, which means superannuation shortfalls now surface much faster. LevelUp conducts wage compliance audits to quantify the exposure, identify the root cause (commonly misclassification, annualised salary arrangements or payroll system errors) and build a remediation plan. We also advise on self-disclosure strategy and, for eligible small businesses, the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code, which can significantly reduce regulatory and reputational risk when handled correctly.
What are the Closing Loopholes changes and how do they affect employers?
The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Acts 2023 and 2024 introduced significant changes to the Fair Work Act. These include criminalising intentional wage underpayment from 1 January 2025, a new definition of casual employment and the employee choice conversion pathway from 26 August 2024, same job same pay orders for labour hire at covered workplaces, the right to disconnect (from 26 August 2024, and from 26 August 2025 for small business), and a new whole of relationship test for distinguishing employees from independent contractors. These changes require employers to review casual employment arrangements, labour hire contracts, after-hours contact practices and contractor classifications. LevelUp has advised extensively on the Closing Loopholes reforms and can assess the impact on your specific workforce arrangements.
Do I need a lawyer or an IR consultant for enterprise bargaining?
Both have a role, but they serve different functions. A lawyer provides legal advice on the enforceability of agreement terms and can represent you in Fair Work Commission proceedings where legal rights are in issue. An IR consultant provides the strategic, operational and commercial expertise to design your bargaining approach, negotiate with unions and employees, draft agreement terms that work in practice, and manage the human dynamics of the process. LevelUp works alongside legal counsel where needed, providing the IR management and operational expertise that makes bargaining effective.
How should employers manage right of entry by union officials?
Under the Fair Work Act 2009, permit holders from registered organisations have the right to enter premises for specific purposes, including investigating suspected breaches and holding discussions with employees. The Closing Loopholes reforms also allow the Fair Work Commission to issue exemption certificates waiving the usual 24-hour notice where suspected underpayment is being investigated. Employers must comply with right of entry requirements but retain the right to set reasonable conditions and to challenge entry where permit conditions are not met. If an official is on site now or entry has been notified, call LevelUp before you respond. We advise on your obligations and rights, establish protocols, and provide support on the ground when entry disrupts operations or exceeds what the law allows.
Further reading
From the LevelUp article library.
- 2025 at the Fair Work Commission: More Claims, Less Patience
- Annualised Salaries After Woolworths and Coles: Not Dead, Just Finally Honest
- McLeish v GNM: When “No Expectation” Isn’t a Force Field
- Payroll Compliance and How to Avoid a “CBA” Outcome
- September 2025 FWC Wrap: Process With Teeth, Platforms With Rules
Related Practice Areas
LevelUp’s expertise in industrial relations connects closely with these disciplines.
Human Resources
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Workplace Investigations
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Safety & Compliance
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Need industrial relations support?
LevelUp provides expert industrial relations consulting across Australia. Let’s talk about your specific situation.