The Workplace Relations Commission upheld cleaner Roxana Doba’s unfair-dismissal complaint against Afm Facilities Limited, but awarded no compensation after finding her conduct contributed 100% to her dismissal. The decision was dated 5 January 2024.
Ms Doba said she was dismissed after refusing proposed changes to her work location and hours. AFM said a client’s changing needs had reduced the cleaning work at her original site and it offered her work nearby on the same terms, or part-time hours at the original site.
The adjudication officer found Ms Doba’s repeated refusal to return to work amounted to repudiatory conduct, and that AFM chose to dismiss her. The dismissal was substantively fair, the officer found, but procedurally unfair because she was not given an opportunity to appeal. In plain terms, the employer had grounds to dismiss her but did not follow a fair process.