Portrait photograph of Michael Byrnes
Michael Byrnes
Partner

Under Aus­tralian law, sim­ply search­ing for a new role is not a valid rea­son for dis­missal. A recent Fair Work Com­mis­sion (FWC) case high­lights the legal risks employ­ers face when ter­mi­nat­ing staff for job-hunt­ing. Employ­ers should pro­ceed care­ful­ly and seek legal advice to avoid unfair dis­missal claims.

Michael Byrnes is quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Can you dis­miss an employ­ee for look­ing for anoth­er job?”, pub­lished in HRM Online on 3 Novem­ber 2025

To read the full arti­cle click here

If you would like to repub­lish this arti­cle, it is gen­er­al­ly approved, but pri­or to doing so please con­tact the Mar­ket­ing team at marketing@​swaab.​com.​au. This arti­cle is not legal advice and the views and com­ments are of a gen­er­al nature only. This arti­cle is not to be relied upon in sub­sti­tu­tion for detailed legal advice.

Publications

Tem­po­rary Dis­con­for­mi­ty in Build­ing Defects: Myth, Not Law

The ​“tem­po­rary dis­con­for­mi­ty” argu­ment in con­struc­tion dis­putes sug­gests that defec­tive work iden­ti­fied before prac­ti­cal com­ple­tion is not a breach while the…

The impor­tance of a Request for Tender

Issu­ing a request for ten­der (RFT) is more than just secur­ing the best or low­est price. An RFT is your oppor­tu­ni­ty to man­age…

More Changes for Stra­ta — effec­tive 1 April 2026

The Fair Trad­ing and Build­ing Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment Bill 2026 was passed by par­lia­ment dur­ing Feb­ru­ary 2026 with the changes effec­tive on…

In the News

Michael Byrnes quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Five legal ques­tions about Jack­ie Henderson’s law­suit against ARN answered”, pub­lished in Mum­brel­la on 2 April 2026

Michael Byrnes quot­ed in the arti­cle, ​“Five legal ques­tions about Jack­ie Henderson’s law­suit against ARN answered”, pub­lished in Mum­brel­la on…

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 31 March 2026 to dis­cuss the legal pro­ceed­ings com­menced by Jack­ie ​‘O’ Hen­der­son against ARN

Michael Byrnes appeared on the Game Chang­ers Radio pod­cast host­ed by Craig Bruce and Irene Hulme on 31 March 202…

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 31 March 2026 to dis­cuss the legal pro­ceed­ings com­menced by Jack­ie ​‘O’ Hen­der­son against ARN (from 6:05 to 37:30)

Michael Byrnes appeared on McK­night Tonight with Robert McK­night on 31 March 2026 to dis­cuss the legal pro­ceed­ings com­menced by…

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