Michael Starkey

Michael has advisory and litigious experience across all areas of employment law, including employment contracts; employee entitlements; employee issues in restructures, mergers, and acquisitions; executive employment issues; remuneration and superannuation; modern award issues; independent contractor issues; post-employment restraints; discrimination, bullying, and harassment; Fair Work Commission claims and other litigation; workplace investigations; and enterprise bargaining.

Michael also conducts client education in key areas, including compliance, behaviour and culture, work health and safety, and performance management.

• Advising numerous clients in relation to changes to the annualised salary provisions of a number of modern awards, including organisation-wide award reviews, drafting required documentation, and advice on compliance.
• Associate acting for a client in the FMCG industry in the defence of a sexual harassment claim brought in the Federal Court by an independent contractor against a senior employee. Matter settled at mediation with favourable outcome.
• Associate acting for a major multinational financial services company in the successful defence of a Federal Circuit Court general protections claim, including preparation of affidavit evidence and attendance at hearing. 
• Managing a major project advising on the classification of a client's contractor workforce (400+ individuals) for the purposes of advising on liability for superannuation and employee entitlements.
• Advising numerous clients on transfers of business and business restructures, including drafting of redundancy documents.

• Sir Alexander Beattie Prize in Industrial Law (University of Sydney, 2014)
• Harmers Workplace Lawyers Prize for Labour Law (University of Sydney, 2014)
• Harmers Workplace Lawyers Prize for Anti-Discrimination Law (University of Sydney, 2014)

• Street Children's Legal Atlas volunteer

• Baker LGBTI Committee - member