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It would be "much simpler" to consider abandonment of employment as falling within the definition of dismissal under the Fair Work Act, instead of applying the "complicated contractual concept of renunciation", according to a Fair Work Commission member.

In determining an employer's jurisdictional objection to a general protections dismissal claim, Commissioner Stephen Crawford said this case illustrated the difficulties associated with determining whether someone had abandoned their employment or had been dismissed.

He expressed doubts about whether the FW Act intended to exclude such circumstances from the meaning of dismissal under section 386.

Rather, he said a "better view" was that "the employment ends at the initiative of the employer because the employer dismisses the employee for failing to attend work without explanation"...