He worked for an Australian company for years - then hit a wall when he filed

Offshore workers, take note: working for an Australian company does not always put you under Australian workplace law.

That is the takeaway from a Fair Work Commission decision handed down on June 4, 2026, dismissing a general protections claim by a software developer who worked for an Australian company but never set foot in Australia.

John Harris Pe accepted a written job offer in March 2019 to work as a PHP developer. He signed the contract in wet ink in the Philippines, and his employer, Satellite Office Solutions, counter-signed it there. Pe performed all his duties in the Philippines. He was paid in Philippine pesos, his tax was remitted in the Philippines, and statutory contributions went to the Philippine government.

The wrinkle: Pe worked specifically and exclusively for an Australian trading company, Pepperstone Group, under a labour-hire arrangement between Satellite Office and Pepperstone.

According to the decision, Pe's relationship with a Pepperstone manager deteriorated significantly in 2025. He submitted a confidential report about that manager's conduct in September 2025 and was certified unfit for work from that month due to a mental health condition. In January 2026 he sent Pepperstone a formal notification about alleged governance failures. Unsatisfied with the response, in February 2026 he emailed the company saying he accepted the repudiation of his contract and had been...

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