Who We Are

RICHARD TAIT

Director
richard@hrws.com.au  
0408 611 850

Richard has 25 years’ experience in workplace relations working in a variety of industries including education, councils, health, hospitality, real estate and construction. Prior to founding H & R Workplace Strategies Richard worked for ClubsNSW as Executive Manager Workplace Relations where he provided professional, strategic and legal advice on a myriad of workplace relations and human resource issues.

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In 2011 he set up Clubs Australia Industrial (CAI) and was appointed its inaugural Executive Director where he led the strategic direction for clubs on a national basis. Richard guaranteed CAI’s future by creating a unified body with on-going financial sustainability via negotiated sponsorships, provision of services to state bodies and a National WR and HR Conference.

Richard’s passion is in management and strategic thinking. He believes a focus on these two aspects, especially when combining a strategic view to your workforce planning, will set your business as a leader both internally and externally. For the majority of his professional life he has led, coached and mentored staff. Watching their successes has provided some of his greatest professional experiences. Richard’s primary goal in his current work with H & R Workplace Strategies is ensuring that people and businesses resolve grievances at the workplace and not in adversarial litigation. This aim is achieved by providing strategic business advice together with undertaking professional workplace investigations and mediation.

Richard enjoys training people and regularly presents at seminars and conferences. He has also been a guest lecturer at Western Sydney University and Newcastle University.

Richard has degrees in Law, Arts (Majors in Economics and History) and an Honours degree in Industrial Relations.

HELEN CARAYANNIS

Solicitor Director, LLB (Hons) BA(Comms)
helen@hrws.com.au 
0433 656 399

Helen is a trusted strategic partner to industry, private and public enterprise in the specialised area of employment and industrial law.

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She is also recognized for her experience in managing and conducting complex workplace investigations. She has considerable experience managing other lawyers, unions and employee representatives as part of this process and always ensures that she works with clients to establish appropriate frameworks for the investigation, set required timelines and advise clients on how to manage their business whilst the investigation is taking place. Helen adopts a consultative approach to her investigative work to ensure the conclusion of the investigation is consistent with the client’s needs.

As Special Counsel of Workplace Relations in her previous role, Helen was responsible for handling all major litigation and other complex industrial matters, as well as successfully negotiating some of the largest employer enterprise agreements with various unions.

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Her submission work to government on employment law policy and litigation matters has also resulted in amendments being made to the Fair Work Act 2009.

Helen has also worked as a lawyer at a leading Sydney law firm, exclusively practicing in industrial relations and employment law for a wide range of industries, including education, local councils, building and construction, insurance, engineering, clothing and textiles.

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It was here that Helen was directly involved in a number of precedent cases at the Federal and High Court level that influenced the industrial relations legislation of the day.

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Helen regularly delivers seminars, speaks at conferences and delivers be-spoke Board, management and employee training including for The University of Sydney’s Workplace Research Centre and Australian Human Resources Institute and has had articles published on various employment law issues in journals such as HR Monthly.

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Helen is also an accredited mediator, having mediated successfully many sensitive and complex workplace relations matters