Lauren Barel, WorkDynamic

Lauren provides expert employment law advice on matters such as executive contracts, termination of employment, enterprise bargaining and employment-related litigation. Lauren also specialises in conducting investigations into workplace issues such as discrimination, harassment and bullying.

Lauren has been profiled in The Australian, the Australian Financial Review, Business Review Weekly, ABC TV, Sky News, Lawyers Weekly and Women’s Agenda. She and partner Jane Wright have attracted widespread media interest in respect of their innovative job-sharing model and the creation of Workdynamic Australia.

In 2013, Lauren and Jane were finalists in the NAB Women’s Agenda Awards in the category of ‘Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year’.

Before forming Workdynamic, Lauren spent over a decade as an employment lawyer at top-tier firm Herbert Smith Freehills. In that role, Lauren managed large-scale litigation, complex legal advice and high profile corporate transactional matters involving large teams of lawyers.

ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS

Lauren holds Bachelor of Arts (majoring in English) and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of New South Wales. She holds a current practising certificate.

Following University, Lauren was selected from her graduate year to work as the Research Assistant for Justice Clifford Einstein of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in 2001.

IN-DEPTH EXPERIENCE

Lauren has extensive experience within all areas of employment and industrial law, and is a recognised specialist in equal opportunity law. She has acted for clients in relation to numerous discrimination, adverse action, bullying, sexual harassment and breach of contract claims before various courts and tribunals.

Lauren currently provides consultancy advice to the University of Sydney and forms an integral part of their in- house employment legal team.

Lauren has conducted numerous investigations of a complex nature. She has investigated bullying and harassment complaints involving multiple respondents, claims of reportable conduct and child sexual abuse overseen by the NSW Ombudsman as well as allegations of corruption within a Federal Government Agency pursuant to the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 (Cth).

A RECOGNISED EXPERT

Lauren has presented numerous training sessions and legal briefings to executive leadership teams concerning a range of employment issues including managing ill and injured employees, recruitment, performance management, social media, conducting workplace investigations and equal opportunity law.

She is frequently invited to speak at external conferences, including at the IR Summit, the Fair Work Summit and the Law Society of New South Wales. Lauren was the co- author of the Australian chapter of the ‘EU & International Employment Law Journal’ for over 4 years. She has also published a number of newsletters regarding employment and discrimination/diversity issues.