Log in or become a subscriber

A sacked employee wasn't "up to the job", according to his employer, and his role was no longer required, but the Fair Work Commission has ruled his dismissal was nonetheless unfair.

"Because the company no longer needed his position anyway, it may have believed that there was no point in going through its performance concerns with [the employee]. But whatever the reason, the process was unfair in this respect," Deputy President Alan Colman said.

The Australian Guild of Education employee, who acted as a quality and risk director, chief technology officer and IT support officer, received four weeks' notice of his termination in April.

In unfair dismissal proceedings he told the Commission the employer had informed him this was because the organisation was too small to have a quality and risk director.

A few days later the employee enquired about whether he might be transitioned to another role, and whether his termination was a redundancy...