Employee placed on PIP wins compensation for harsh dismissal
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The Fair Work Commission has awarded a worker more than $11,000 for financial loss after she was dismissed following the discovery of a $55,915 invoice discrepancy.
A fired assistant accountant who worked for Coronation Property Co has won $11,250 in compensation before the Fair Work Commission on the basis of a harsh dismissal, despite findings that she had incapacity for the role.
Fair Work commissioner Alana Matheson ruled the matter in favour of the worker; however, she said: “I consider that it would be inappropriate to return the applicant to a workplace where she is unlikely to succeed in her role.”
The practitioner was dismissed in late 2025 for allegations of company protocol breaches after spending three years at the company.
The worker was placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP) between 12 June 2025 and 10 July 2025, which ultimately resulted in the applicant receiving a warning letter on 15 July 2025 on the basis that her technical accounting competency remained below the required standard.
“There is a pattern of surface-level agreement to feedback without evidence of sustained improvement of independent problem solving,” the letter said.
“Your approach continues to be transactional rather than demonstrating the required analytical and controls-focused mindset expected of your role.”
It said that this was in reconciliation work, application of professional judgement, and preparation of clear and accurate supporting commentary.
Further, the letter asserted that “deliverables remained incomplete, inaccurate, or lacking proper explanation and analysis, such as balance sheet reconciliations with unexplained variances or balances, incorrect journal postings (e.g. SG penalties), commission revenue summaries with significant inaccuracies and lacking reliable reconciliation to the ledger, delays in clearing intercompany variances and other critical tasks”.
$55,915 discrepancy
One month later, the company’s head of people and culture was notified that the applicant allegedly altered the sum of an invoice from $185 to $56,100.
The worker said she reviewed the invoice, identified that the invoice amount was incorrect, and confirmed it in writing, raising the debt adjustment to correct the amount, and approved the adjustment and applied it to the invoice.
“The applicant said this is the standard method within the system to correct an error of that nature,” Matheson said.
Shortly after, the company issued the worker an allegations letter, setting out claims of procedural failures by the worker.
“When considered alongside your prior warning and repeated failures to comply with required processes, this behaviour poses a significant risk to the company’s financial integrity,” the letter said.
The allegations letter stated that the worker’s conduct demonstrated a failure to follow “fundamental accounting controls and approval protocols and is inconsistent with basic accounting”.
In mid-September, the worker was informed that she was being placed on “garden leave” immediately and that her employment would be terminated on 19 December 2025.
“We have determined that your conduct in relation to the alteration of an invoice and approval without proper delegation, together with the broader control issues identified in the schedules, represents a serious breach of the standards expected of your position,” the termination letter said.
“Given the gravity of these matters and the risk they pose to the organisation’s financial integrity, we have decided that we cannot continue your employment.”
RELATED TERMS
Compensation is a term used to describe a monetary payment made to a person in return for their services. Employees get pay in their places of employment. It includes income or earnings, commision, as well as any bonuses or benefits that are connected to the particular employee's employment.
An employee is a person who has signed a contract with a company to provide services in exchange for pay or benefits. Employees vary from other employees like contractors in that their employer has the legal authority to set their working conditions, hours, and working practises.
When a company terminates an employee's job for improper or illegitimate reasons, it is known as an unfair dismissal.
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