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.
The Commission accepted that the company no longer needed the job done by anyone, and that the decision had nothing to do with the worker's performance. But the Children's Services Award 2010 required the company to consult once it decided to make major structural change, and before acting on it. Under clause 8, that means telling affected staff about the change, discussing its likely effects, and considering ways to soften the blow.
None of that happened before the January 13 meeting. The worker was told her role was redundant and that she was dismissed in the same conversation, with no consultation beforehand. The company's own meeting script and termination letter referred to a "consultation process," but the Commission found no consultation had actually taken place.
Because the consultation obligation was not met, the dismissal was not a genuine redundancy, and the Commission went on to find it was harsh - and therefore unfair.
The Commission was measured about the fallout. It noted the company was not large and had no dedicated HR specialists, which likely explained why the award obligation was missed. That counted slightly in the employer's favour. But ignorance of the rules, the Commission said, is not an excuse.
The remedy was modest. The worker had quickly found new, higher-paid work, so the Commission ordered $999.14 in compensation - the gap between what she would have earned during a proper consultation and notice period and what she actually earned. Reinstatement was not sought and was ruled out.
For HR leaders, the takeaway is process, not intent. The employer here was found to have acted in good faith and for a real operational reason. The redundancy was still ruled unfair, because it treated consultation as a box already ticked rather than a conversation to have. Where a modern award or enterprise agreement carries consultation obligations, they attach before the change is carried out - not after.
