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Secretly working in a second job and being dishonest after it was discovered constituted serious misconduct, the Fair Work Commission has found in upholding an employee's summary dismissal.

"[The employee] submits that the 'punishment does not fit the crime' in that the conduct does not meet the 'serious misconduct' threshold. That submission is rejected," Deputy President Ian Masson said.

The Commission heard property management software company iProperty Express hired the employee in June last year, with her terms of employment stipulating, among other things, that she would not engage in secondary employment within the real estate industry without the managing director's written consent.

In April this year the employee tendered her resignation with 12 weeks' notice, advising the employer she intended to work through that period.

Just two weeks later, however, the employer became aware that she had a profile on a real estate agency website, listing her as a director of that company...