Retail

FCB Group has been providing Australian retailers with legal and workforce management advice since the early 1990s. Our extensive knowledge of the retail sector means that our advice is an ideal combination of commercial pragmatism and technical expertise.

How FCB Group helps businesses operating in the retail sector

At FCB Group, we are aware that most retailers are finding it tough to grow their business in the current economic climate. Increasing overheads, combined with relatively flat sales, mean they need to make their enterprises more efficient. Finally, workplace laws are constantly changing, so retailers need to check regularly whether their systems and processes remain compliant. We know this is both time-consuming and distracting.

How our lawyers can assist retail businesses

Our lawyers think outside the box. They not only draw on their extensive knowledge of the retail sector, but also analyse whether the legal issue a retailer is faced with may be symptomatic of a more complex problem in the way they are running their workplace. This means that they are constantly looking at legal issues from more than one angle, and the solutions they propose won’t simply focus on the current issue but look at how to prevent such problems emerging in the future.

How our workplace relations consultants can assist retail businesses

Our workplace relations consultants come up with pragmatic solutions for retail businesses. Their understanding of the retail sector means that they approach any problem from the perspective of the client, and provide solutions that align with how the industry operates and strategies for navigating the challenges it faces. We can also advise retailers on how to use technology to cut costs and improve performance.

FCB Group’s experience in the retail sector

FCB Group’s partnership with the Australian Retailers Association (ARA)

In 2009, FCB Group entered into an outsourcing arrangement with the ARA to provide high-quality and easy-to-understand employment relations advice to its 5,000 members. The arrangement demonstrated the industry’s understanding that we are experts in the sector.

ARA members also gain access to:

  • A telephone advisory service (which responds to approximately 12,000 calls each year)
  • Professional consultancy services
  • Bespoke training solutions.

Employment Relations Management System (ERMS)

We also give ARA members access to our online ERMS, which is a customised version of our technology product, enableHR. The ERMS is a virtual human resources (HR) assistant that supports retail businesses in the delivery of day-to-day HR transactions. It provides members with:

  • Candidate, employee and contractor advice
  • Work health and safety advice
  • Workplace tools, templates and guides.

FCB Group has experience of lobbying on behalf of retailers

Through its links with the ARA, FCB Group has worked hard to promote and represent the interests of the industry to both state and federal governments, as well as various agencies and non-government bodies.

In turn, this has led to FCB Group representing a number of industry associations during the Fair Work Commission’s 2012 and 2014 award review processes. This has given us the opportunity to promote the interests of the industry as a whole.

Our areas of expertise

We regularly assist our retail clients with matters such as:

  • Enterprise bargaining and industry strategy
  • Restructuring and change management
  • Major industrial disputes
  • Compliance and systems audits
  • Workplace investigations.

We also draft bespoke contracts of employment, employment handbooks and other employment law documents.

Would you like to find out more?

If you would like to find out more about how we can help with workplace relations issues for businesses operating in the retail industry, please call us on (03) 9098 9400 or email Nick Tindley, head of the retail industry team, at nrt@fcbgroup.com.au.