A Sydney-based currency trader was fired after he was caught holidaying in Singapore while telling his employer he was "working from home".

Charles Graham had also previously worked remotely from Bali after telling his manager that he was waiting at home for a plumber to fix "recurring bathroom issues".

The Australian Fair Work Commission ruled on Oct 7 that although Graham's dismissal by HIFX Australia, trading as Xe, was procedurally unfair, the company had valid grounds to sack him.

Fair Work commissioner Alana Matheson found that Graham had deliberately concealed his location and that Xe had a valid reason to dismiss him. 

However, she said the company's process was unfair because it failed to fully explain the case against him and give him a proper opportunity to respond, reported The Guardian.

He reportedly won the case but walked away with little more than four weeks' pay.

How a laptop gave him away

Graham was fired on Dec 2, 2025 after Xe's IT team tracked his laptop's IP address to Singapore, even though he was supposed to be working from home in Sydney on Nov 17, according to The Guardian.

He had previously asked in September 2025 to be temporarily relocated to Singapore for a year after being granted a youth mobility visa that would expire in mid-November, according to Australian Financial Review. However, the company denied his request, explaining that it did not have a licence to operate in Singapore.

Graham then spent the next three months working from home while on a medical certificate for an eye injury. He later went on annual leave and was due to return to work in mid-November.

His manager contacted IT on Nov 17, asking for its team's "FBI skills" to check on Graham, Australian Financial Review reported. The investigation revealed that he was in Singapore.

Graham reportedly explained that he postponed his flight back to Australia because his partner developed a bacterial infection during their holiday. 

He added that he intended to inform his manager but was tied up with unread e-mails, calls and a complaint from a high-value client.

His company was not convinced, citing a lack of evidence to sufficiently establish that his partner could not travel or explain why he concealed his location.

Not the first time

Xe also cited a prior incident in which Graham claimed he needed to work from home because a plumber was coming to fix his toilet but was actually in Bali.

Commissioner Matheson found that Graham's concealment of working in Bali showed he understood he needed approval to work overseas, according to The Guardian.

She considered his failure to disclose his location in Singapore to be deliberate dishonesty, according to Australian Financial Review.

However, she also looked into Graham's claims of Xe's "pre-planned, targeted operation" to terminate him, finding that the company failed to fully explain its reasons for dismissal and denied him the chance to properly respond, Australian Financial Review reported.

Private messages, including one from his manager about working out a "strategy" and giving Graham "a bit of hope to turn up to the meeting", suggested the outcome may have been predetermined regardless of his response.

Nonetheless, Matheson found reinstatement inappropriate and decided against awarding compensation, saying a fairer process was unlikely to have changed the outcome given Graham's misconduct.

She also reiterated that he had already received four weeks' pay in lieu of notice. 

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laili.abdeen@asiaone.com