A long list of grievances still wasn't enough to turn one resignation into a dismissal
An unhappy worker resigned and called it a sacking. The Fair Work Commission disagreed.
A senior hairdresser who resigned from a salon and argued she had been forced out has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission that she was dismissed at all - a decision handed down on July 30, 2026 that draws a clear line between a worker who is unhappy and one who is pushed out.
The worker, employed by JR's Establishment Pty Ltd since April 2024, resigned with immediate effect on February 1, 2026. She then applied under the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act, saying her employer's conduct had left her no choice but to go. The employer objected, arguing she had resigned voluntarily and so was never dismissed.
That threshold question decided the case. The Commission can only deal with a general protections dismissal dispute if a dismissal actually happened. A resignation counts as one only where the employer's conduct forces it - where the worker has no real or effective choice but to leave. The worker had to prove that, and the onus was hers.
She gave the Commission a long list of reasons. A bullying investigation, she said, had stalled and gone unresolved. Other staff had left over a colleague's behaviour. She was under workplace stress, her complaints had been ignored, and the managing director had made her anxious - she told the Commission he had referenced "getting rid of"...
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