[2025] FWC 1441
General information, not legal advice.
Fair Work Commission
2025-05-30
Original judgment source is linked above.
s.394 - Application for unfair dismissal remedy
JA & JA Concreting Pty Ltd As Trustee For The Teusner Family Trust
Application for an unfair dismissal remedy; Respondent alleged no dismissal; objection dismissed
"Hey Kane hope your shoulder appointment was ok yesterday, just following up what happened on Thursday when you didn't turn up to work. We still haven't heard from [sic] and are planning for the week ahead. Are you planning on returning or contacting us? At this stage we will plan for you not being around next week. Please let us know where you are at."
"Hey sorry about last Thursday. I was crook in the gets only just come good yesterday and have been away. I'll be in tomorrow."
"Crook or not there is an expiation [sic] that you communicate with us. Leaving till Monday is not good enough especially when we know you communicated with one of the boys on Thursday during the day."
"Kane, Yes, as I said in Saturday's txt msg we have not heard from you, and as such have not planned for you to be in this week. I can look for later in the week which we haven't finalised but we have pushed a job back and approached sub contractors to cover the jobs so we were not left short.
You still have not addressed the issue that You did not show up to work Thursday, didn't let us know but were able to txt other workers on Thursday and didn't contact us till Monday 12 pm. This is simply not acceptable.
Call me tomorrow to resolve this issue and explain your side of events. I'm happy to be corrected if there is something we've misinterpreted."
"I have not been provided any work or pay for several days now. I have got advice on this. Because I am fulltime permanent I can't be stood down without pay. If you have no work for me for a period of days then I can be told to stay home but as long as I am ready, willing and able to work you have to pay me. To stand me down without pay is tantamount to dismissal and is a fundamental breach of my contract of employment. We can fix this by you paying for all the days when I have not been provided work and not paid, when I was available, and you committing to not stand me down again".
"Mon 17th i sent you a msg explaining why i took thursday 13th march off. I apologised for not msging you too let you no that that day i wasnt coming in because i had gastro and was to sick. I also sent Shona a msg saying i was taking Friday 14th march off for a hospital appointment, i also wrote i was taking off the Mon 17th off as we had a family reunion in Moama. i told shona in that msg i would be back too work on Tuesday 18th March. I sent shona that msg on Monday 10th march. You told me too have 4 days off last week with no pay and now its Sunday night At 8:40pm at night you havnt uploaded were I'm working tomorrow on clock shark or replied to my last msg I sent 2 days ago about you not providing me work last week as i am fulltime permanent."
(a) In the afternoon of 24 March 2025, Mr Caspar began replying to Mr Poulter's messages sent earlier at different times.
"Yes I'm aware of your annual leave and doctor on the 14/3 and 17/3. However as I've started [sic] the fact you didn't show up on the 13/3 and never let us know what was happening we didn't plan for you. I clearly stated this in my message on Saturday 15/3 that we didn't know where you were and couldn't plan as such.
As far as we knew you had abandoned your position as seam [sic] consistent with the ignoring of our calls and messages but contacting other workers on the 13/3 and mentioning to other employees that you were looking for another job.
Please let me know your intentions of returning".
Thank you for reaching out and sharing your concerns. I want to start by acknowledging your position and your understanding of your rights as a full-time employee under the Fair Work Act. I appreciate your readiness to resolve the issue constructively.
I do want to clarify that the reason you were not rostered or paid for the period from 18/3 to 21/3 was due to the lack of communication following your missed shift on 13/3. Unfortunately, we did not receive any notification or explanation for your absence until the 17/3 despite us reaching out on 3 occasions. This made it difficult to plan and allocate work for the following days which was stated in my message to you on the 14/3 to which you failed to respond to.
You were asked to call on 18/3 so we could discuss the situation and find a resolution, but we've not heard back from you until the 23/3 at 8:47pm. Please understand that our intention was not to stand you down or withhold pay unfairly, but rather to ensure clarity around your availability and our operational planning.
That said, we're committed to doing the right thing and want to resolve this matter in a fair and respectful way. We'd also like to make sure something like this doesn't happen again, and that expectations are clear on both sides. Is your intention to return to your position?
Please get in touch at your earliest convenience so we can talk this through and reach a fair outcome."
(e) At around this time, Mr Caspar and Mr Poulter also spoke on the phone. It appears this was a somewhat heated conversation. It appears Mr Poulter sought to create a transcript of this conversation in a text message sent the following day, which is dealt with below.
Just wanting to reach out to kindly ask if you could confirm whether you are planning to return to work. There's clearly been a breakdown in communication, and we're keen to move forward with clarity on both sides. From our side we had no idea where you were after failing to turn up Thursday and planned accordingly. We were awaiting your call 18/3 to resolve the situation.
While we firmly reject the claims you've made regarding bullying, we are open to addressing any concerns you may have in a constructive and respectful way.
Please let us know your intentions at your earliest convenience.
We have shifts available tomorrow onwards, please confirm?"
"Brendan last night when we spoke on the phone, i asked you oif you where going to pay me for the days you had no work for me. You said "you wont pay me for those days", i then replied well you have to pay me for those days as im Full time permanent. You said thats fine you can quit if you want. After that you were taking over me you brought when i was sick i talked to an Emplyoee telling them i was saying i wanted to leave the Company i toild you were lying and making up stories and asked you who said this too you you replied I'm not going to say there name. I found the Conversation to be aggressive by you you were talking over me you were not trying resolved anything, i found the Conversation as you were talking down to me and trying to bully me. So i hanged up the phone call. I have had advice that you standing me down without pay is a major breach of my employment contract. You need to pay me pay lieu and my holiday pay. The fact that you have asked me to not come too work because jobs were pushed back in February till now and then taken it of my annual leave is also wrong and that needs to be repaid."
The characterisation of the case by the Applicant
"This is not a case under s 386(1)(b) where the applicant resigned because he was forced to do so because of the conduct, or course of conduct, engaged in by his employer."
Consideration - has Mr Poulter been "dismissed" within the meaning of s 386(1)(a) of the Act?
(a) the person's employment with his or her employer has been terminated on the employer's initiative; or
(b) the person has resigned from his or her employment, but was forced to do so because of conduct, or a course of conduct, engaged in by his or her employer.
"The term repudiation is used in different senses. First, it may refer to conduct which evinces an unwillingness or an inability to render substantial performance of the contract. This is sometimes described as conduct of a party which evinces an intention no longer to be bound by the contract or to fulfil it only in a manner substantially inconsistent with the party's obligations. It may be termed renunciation. The test is whether the conduct of one party is such as to convey to a reasonable person, in the situation of the other party, renunciation either of the contract as a whole or of a fundamental obligation under it ... Secondly, it may refer to any breach of contract which justifies termination by the other party."
Consideration - has Mr Poulter been "dismissed" within the meaning of s 386(1)(b) of the Act?
[1] Applicant's Outline of Submissions, March 2025 [58] - [69]
[2] Caspar Witness Statement, Exhibit BC-1, p.5
[11] Ibid; Caspar Witness Statement, Exhibit BC-1, p.5
[14] Caspar Witness Statement, Exhibit BC-1, p.5
[16] Caspar Witness Statement, Exhibit BC-1, pp. 6 - 7
[20] Application by Mr Kane Poulter, 26 March 2025, item 2.1
[21] Applicant's Outline of Submissions [52]
[24] Respondent's Outline of Submissions on Jurisdiction [1.3] - [1.4]
[25] Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd [2017] FWCFB 5162 [75]
[29] See for example Wood v Wood [2023] FWC 1901 [23]; White v Superior Facilities Pty Ltd [2020] FWC 3035; Police Federation of Australia v Victoria Police Force [2008] AIRC 512 [44]; Department of Justice v Lunn PR974185, (2006) 158 IR 410 [20]; White v Australian and New Zealand Theatres Ltd [1943] HCA 6; (1943) 67 CLR 266
[31] Re Abandonment of Employment [2018] FWCFB 119 [21]
[32] [2021] FWCFB 6022 [71]; cited with approval in Trent Jowett v iDrilling Australia Pty Ltd T/A iDrilling Australia Pty Ltd [2024] FWCFB 262
[33] [2017] FWCFB 3941; Note that the Respondent's Outline of Submissions on Jurisdiction refer to comments made by a "Full Bench", but cite [2018] FWC 1074 [9]. This is the single member decision of Cambridge C and appears to have been a citation error.
[35] Respondent's Outline of Submissions on Jurisdiction, [3.2]
Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer
Mr Kane Poulter
JA & JA Concreting Pty Ltd As Trustee For The Teusner Family Trust [2025] FWC 1441
(2007) 241 ALR 88
(2006) 158 IR 410
(1943) 67 CLR 266