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An employee's dismissal for failing to follow his employer's absence notification requirements during the height of COVID restrictions was "very regrettable", the Fair Work Commission has ruled in awarding maximum compensation.

The Pegasus Print bookbinder was at work on Tuesday 7 September last year when his wife told him she was a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case. The employee informed his supervisor, and said that because he had a sore throat, he was leaving work to get tested immediately.

The testing clinic told the employee to come back the next day. On Wednesday he underwent a PCR test and told his manager he wouldn't be at work as he was awaiting results. He told his manager the following day that he was still waiting on results, and when he received a negative result on the Friday, he said he'd be in the following Monday.

When he returned, the employee was reprimanded by his manager for leaving work without providing advanced warning of his subsequent absences...