Fair Work reinstates care coordinator

The Fair Work Commission ordered a Tasmanian aged care and disability provider to reinstate a care coordinator after finding the employer dismissed him for alleged misconduct while failing to act on repeated warnings about an unmanageable caseload. The decision was made on August 31, 2026, and reported publicly on September 3 after publication in the Commission’s decisions materials on September 2. Community Based Support Limited had dismissed the worker in March after compiling 27 concerns about his handling of clients, according to reporting that summarized the ruling. ### Who was involved, and what did the Commission decide? Community Based Support Limited, a not-for-profit that delivers aged care and disability support in Tasmania, employed the worker as a care coordinator for more than five years before terminating him in March. The Fair Work Commission found the dismissal was unfair and ordered that he be returned to his job, with any question of lost pay to be considered separately. (hcamag.com) The Fair Work Commission says reinstatement is the primary remedy it must consider in unfair dismissal matters before turning to other remedies. Its guidance says reinstatement can mean reappointment to the previous role or to another position no less favorable. ### What had the worker been warning about before he was fired? In December 2025, the coordinator emailed his manager that “the overall workload has become increasingly challenging to manage” and said his client numbers had moved beyond the point where, as he understood it, another coordinator should be added. (hcamag.com) He also wrote that he was concerned the workload was getting in the way of providing quality care to clients. (fwc.gov.au) The worker was also a Health Services Union delegate and a bargaining representative during enterprise agreement talks, according to the report on the case. The Commission found those workload concerns were raised in writing and early, and that management did not materially address them. ### Why did the employer say it dismissed him? (hcamag.com) The employer assembled 27 allegations covering late follow-ups, missing file notes, slow service set-ups and billing mistakes. A late-March process found all of them “substantiated,” and the chief executive approved dismissal on the basis that the conduct was “grossly negligent in terms of care of our clients,” according to the report. (hcamag.com) One client case became the employer’s “primary incident.” The provider said the coordinator failed to follow up quickly enough after the client was admitted to hospital in December 2025 and later died there that month. The Commission was not persuaded by the employer’s account and found no evidence the worker’s conduct exposed anyone to “unacceptable risk,” according to the report. (hcamag.com) ### Why did the Commission reject the misconduct case? The Commission found most of the 27 allegations were ordinary performance shortfalls rather than misconduct, according to the report of the ruling. It also found the employer had not formally raised those failings with the worker at the time and had instead later recharacterized them as misconduct. (hcamag.com) An executive manager accepted under questioning that he did not regard the workload complaints as valid, and the Commission concluded that “nothing material was done about them,” the report said. The manager who was said to have repeatedly reminded the worker to complete tasks did not testify, leaving a gap in the employer’s evidence. (hcamag.com) ### What does the case show about Fair Work remedies? The Fair Work Commission’s public guidance says reinstatement is the first remedy it must assess in unfair dismissal cases, ahead of compensation. The Commission also says it publishes decisions and orders as soon as they are issued, including outside standard business hours, and that published materials can be found through its decisions database. September 2 is the publication date attached to the decision materials referenced in reporting on the case, while August 31 is the date the reinstatement order was made. (hcamag.com) Any backpay question is the next live issue between the worker and Community Based Support Limited. (fwc.gov.au)