Overview
- A Sydney currency trader was sacked after his employer traced his work laptop to a hotel in Singapore while he was meant to be working from home in November 2025 and the company terminated his employment in December 2025.
- On October 7, 2026 commissioner Alana Matheson ruled that the trader deliberately concealed his overseas location and that Xe had substantive grounds to dismiss him.
- The commission also found procedural failings in Xe’s handling of the dismissal and awarded the trader four weeks’ pay in lieu of notice but refused reinstatement or further compensation.
- Evidence to the commission included an internal message asking IT for ‘FBI skills’ to locate the device and past instances where the trader worked overseas without approval, while the trader argued the location was discovered through improper tracking.
- The decision underscores that employers face regulatory and licence risks when staff work from other countries and that firms must follow clear, fair dismissal procedures even when they believe misconduct has occurred.