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An employee who repeatedly provided "unacceptable" medical certificates to cover his absence effectively abandoned his employment, the Fair Work Commission has found.

The correctional officer was dismissed from the Darwin Correctional Centre by the Northern Territory's Department of the Attorney General and Justice in April this year, after being absent for more than 20 working days "without authority".

In unfair dismissal proceedings, the Commission heard the employee had been on approved leave between 1 December last year and 12 January for a psychological condition.

On 14 January, however, the employee submitted a medical certificate issued by a medical centre in the Philippines, stating he remained unfit for work due to an upper respiratory tract infection, it heard...