If a person has an employment contract, does it mean they have an employment relationship?
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) recently dealt with a case involving a worker claiming he was dismissed even before his employment began.
In its defense, the employer contended that the worker was not dismissed as the latter was not the company’s employee in the first place.
Before the unfair dismissal case, the employer offered the worker the general manager role, and he was issued a contract of employment on 8 February 2023.
According to the contract, the worker was to commence work on 21 February 2023. However, the terms provided in the agreement were not followed.
Phone discussions ends employment
The employer stated it had a discussion by telephone with the worker on 20 February, wherein it was decided that the worker would not begin employment with the company.
“The [employer] clarified that it did not want the applicant to commence employment with it due to the [worker’s] conduct,” the FWC noted.
Meanwhile, the worker said that his employer alleged that he had poor interpersonal dealings with a previous employee at a different venue.
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The worker further denied the employer’s assertion that he mutually agreed “not to commence” without compensation since he was left unemployed and had missed another work opportunity.
“The [worker] said that first he was shocked and dismayed at the actions the [employer] took in dismissing him before starting work after signing the employment contract,” the Commission noted.
“The [worker] explained that he missed another work opportunity, and this left him in a very poor state of mental health,” it added.
HRD previously reported on the case of a worker who was left fuming after he was dropped from his new work before his first day in the office.
FWC’s decision
In considering if it was an unfair dismissal case, the Commission noted that the two parties had entered into an employment contract.
However, in its decision, it highlighted the fact that entering into an employment contract does not automatically follow that an employment relationship has been established or started.
“The employment contract expressly provided that the [worker's] employment shall commence on 21 February 2023,” the FWC said in its decision. “It never did.”
Ultimately, the Commission was not satisfied that the worker was indeed an employee of the company. Hence, no unfair dismissal occurred.