An employee at PaperCut Software who believed his employment contract gave him an unconditional right to work from home was dismissed after refusing repeated directions to attend the office three days a week. The Fair Work Commission found the direction was lawful and reasonable, and his dismissal was not unfair.
What the Commission decided
Richard Johnson had worked for PaperCut since 2022 under a contract that permitted him to work from his home address "in line with relevant PaperCut policy", while also allowing the company to require him to work at other locations "from time to time". When PaperCut rolled out a hybrid work policy requiring staff to attend the office for part of the week, Johnson refused to comply, arguing the policy breached his contract.
Commissioner Connolly disagreed. Reading the contract as a whole, the Commissioner found a reasonable person would understand that working from home was something PaperCut had agreed to allow at the time, not an unconditional entitlement. The word
What this means
This case is a reminder that refusing a lawful and reasonable direction from an employer can amount to a valid reason for dismissal, even where an employee believes their contract supports their position. Workers who are considering challenging a return-to-office direction, or who have been dismissed after doing so, should understand how the unfair dismissal process weighs the lawfulness and reasonableness of such directions before assuming their contract guarantees a right to work from home.