The role was genuinely gone. One missed step still cost the employer at the Commission
A childcare operator had a real reason to cut a senior role but skipping one step turned the redundancy into an unfair dismissal.
The Fair Work Commission ruled on July 7, 2026 that a Sydney childcare company unfairly dismissed its Operations Director, even though the Commission accepted the role had genuinely disappeared from the business.
The case is a clean reminder for HR: a sound business reason for a redundancy will not save you if you skip the consultation your award requires.
The worker had joined the company, Minghui Education, in early April 2025 on a salary of $108,000. In late 2025 and early 2026 the company's directors reviewed the business and decided the Operations Director role was no longer needed. They planned to spread its duties across external consultants and existing leaders rather than replace the position.
On January 13, 2026, the directors called the worker into a meeting and told her the role was redundant, effective that day. She was given a termination letter the same day and paid in lieu of notice.
The company argued this was a genuine redundancy. The Commission disagreed - not because the redundancy was a sham, but because of how it was handled.
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