He walked off mid-shift, missed three days, and never contacted his employer
An employee walked off citing distress, missed three shifts, and never called in. The Fair Work Commission ruled it wasn't a dismissal.
On 8 July 2025, Kibreab Teklu arrived for his morning shift at Liferaft System Australia, a Hobart-based manufacturer of life rafts and marine evacuation systems. By mid-morning, he had walked out. He never returned to work.
The Commission's ruling, handed down on 27 February 2026, cuts to the heart of a situation HR teams know well: an employee who vanishes after a workplace conflict, and the questions that follow for everyone involved.
The trouble began when acting supervisor Ian Haigh asked Teklu and his colleague Gedamu Yigzaw to quieten down and pick up the pace on a welding task, with another job scheduled for 10AM. Teklu alleged Haigh was aggressive and had physically inserted himself between him and Yigzaw. His colleague, he said, was so overwhelmed he also left. When the main supervisor Greg Russel-Green returned to site, Teklu raised concerns about Haigh's behaviour but says he was spoken over and never given the chance to respond. He left shortly after.
LSA's account was different. Haigh, backed by the uncontested evidence of two senior colleagues, said he was speaking calmly and simply trying to keep the job on schedule. The assigned task, which typically takes two to three hours, had reportedly stretched to six when Teklu and Yigzaw worked together.
Teklu did not show up for his rostered shifts on 9, 10, or 11 July 2025. He made no attempt to contact his employer or apply for leave through the company's HR platform, Employment Hero. When he did return to the LSA premises on 14 July 2025, he arrived after his normal start time, was not dressed for work, and met with General Manager Alan Gumley. He raised grievances but did not ask about his job or about returning to work.
At the hearing, Teklu described the days after 8 July 2025 as deeply distressing: driving aimlessly, unable to eat or sleep, experiencing physical symptoms of distress. He submitted a Centrelink medical certificate recording depression and anxiety with an onset date of 31 July 2025, along with a separate certificate noting GP visits on 17 July 2025 and 31 July 2025 for work stress.
Commissioner Fox was not persuaded. "I do not consider Mr Teklu's medical information provides any evidence of incapacity so as to render him incapable or unable to contact LSA or apply for leave via Employment Hero App," the Commissioner wrote.
The Commission found that Teklu had voluntarily ended his employment. "Mr Teklu's employment ended because he voluntarily chose to leave his job at LSA," the decision read. Because the Commission found he had not been dismissed within the meaning of s.386 of the Act, LSA's jurisdictional objection was upheld and the application was dismissed — the merits of any alleged unfairness were never reached.
LSA's own account of the separation shifted considerably throughout proceedings, at various points describing it as a dismissal for serious misconduct, a mutual agreement, and a resignation. The Commission found no evidence to support either the serious misconduct dismissal or the mutual agreement characterisations. As for resignation, the Commissioner accepted Teklu's own position that he had not formally resigned — the ultimate finding was simply that he had voluntarily ended his employment through his conduct. The separation certificate, which incorrectly recorded the reason as "end of season or contract," was found to provide no insight into how the employment ended.
For those managing people and policy, the ruling carries a few sharp reminders. A mental health history, however genuine, will not automatically excuse an employee from the basic obligation to contact their employer. Absence notification procedures need to be clearly communicated and consistently applied. And when an employer's records describe the same separation in three different ways, as happened here, the credibility cost in proceedings can be real. Getting the paperwork right the first time still matters.
