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Employee facing serious criminal charges was fairly sacked

An employee who offered to take unpaid leave or perform alternative duties until he could defend criminal allegations was not unfairly sacked, the Fair Work Commission has found.

The Queensland college teacher – who won confidentiality orders for his unfair dismissal proceedings – had been charged with an historical allegation (of a sexual nature) in connection with a pupil, and his registration was suspended in August last year. The employee denied the allegation and sought unpaid leave while he cleared his name.

A show-cause letter said that although the employer had "formed no view about the truth of these allegations", the employee could not perform the inherent requirements of his position without active registration. Further, it might take a significant period of time for him to defend the charges, and there was no guarantee he would be successful...

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