Contract signed, onboarding underway, pay already deposited — so why didn't it count as a dismissal
A school that withdrew a signed job offer days before the new hire's first day has avoided a dismissal claim, after the Fair Work Commission ruled no employment relationship ever existed.
In a decision handed down on 8 May 2026, Commissioner Durham dismissed Claire Rewa's general protections application against Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School Limited, finding that while a contract had been signed, the employment itself never got off the ground.
The story began on 15 December 2025, when Rewa signed a letter of offer for a fixed-term role as Primary School Coordinator. Her start date was set for 22 January 2026. In the weeks between, the School's primary faculty held planning sessions from 11 to 16 January, which Rewa did not attend. Principal Alix Johnson later said several teachers raised concerns about working with her.
Johnson called Rewa in for a meeting on 16 January and asked whether she had any knowledge of a formal complaint, investigation or legal proceedings at her previous school. A follow-up call on 20 January led him to believe she had failed to disclose a conflict of interest involving one of her referees. The next day, the School pulled the plug. Johnson cited "the recruitment process being compromised by her lack of transparency," and the School paid Rewa seven weeks in lieu of notice, with two weeks landing in her account the same day.
Rewa pushed back. Filing on 9 February 2026, she argued she had been dismissed in breach of the general protections, pointing to the signed contract, a "school service date" of 15 January, onboarding tasks, calls with the role's current incumbent, and the early pay deposit. In her words, she had been "held out by the Respondent as an employee."
Commissioner Durham wasn't persuaded. Drawing on the Full Bench's reasoning in Kelly v Melba Support Services and the recent Perri v Oral Health Victoria decision, the Commissioner explained that a contract can exist before an employment relationship begins. Withdraw the offer before the start date, and you might be looking at a breach of contract, but not a dismissal.
The activities Rewa relied on, reading the code of conduct, agreeing to the IT policy, setting up a school email, reviewing staff communications about her appointment, were treated as ordinary onboarding. Two phone calls with the current incumbent, James Deefholts, were treated as social and collegial, not work. And the early payment? Discretionary compensation for the short notice, not wages for work performed. The case was distinguished from Argentier v City Perfume Retail, where the employee had actually started.
For HR teams, the decision is reassuring but not a free pass. Pre-start withdrawals can be done lawfully, but the line between onboarding and real work is thinner than it looks. Direct a candidate to attend training, work a shift, or perform actual duties before the contractual start date, and the analysis shifts fast.
The takeaway: keep pre-commencement contact genuinely administrative, spell out disclosure expectations clearly in offer letters, and if integrity concerns surface, act on them before day one, not after.
