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Organisations making urgent lay-offs must still comply with their consultation requirements, the Fair Work Commission has highlighted, in rejecting that an employer had no time to consult before making a role redundant.

"The right to be consulted about a decision to reduce staffing numbers which may impact the ongoing employment of an employee is a substantive right and not merely perfunctory," Commissioner Damian Sloan stressed.

The CDNI Care disability support worker claimed unfair dismissal after his employment was terminated in August last year, but his employer raised a jurisdictional objection, arguing it was a case of genuine redundancy.

The Commission heard that in the first half of 2025, the employer advised staff that it was experiencing financial difficulties. It said it might have to reduce employees' pay, and there was the potential for redundancies, for employees who didn't accept these "revised terms"...