Trader Works From Singapore Without Telling Boss, Gets Fired After Laptop IP Address Gives Him Away

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News)

A Sydney-based currency trader was fired after being 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 he was waiting at home for a plumber to fix recurring bathroom issues.

The Australian Fair Work Commission ruled on October 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. Graham reportedly won the case but walked away with little more than four weeks' pay.

Graham was fired on December 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 November 17.

He had previously asked in September 2025 to be temporarily relocated to Singapore for a year after being granted a youth mobility visa expiring in mid-November. The company denied his request, explaining 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 November 17, asking for the team's "FBI skills" to check on Graham. The investigation revealed 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 emails, calls, and a complaint from a high-value client.

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

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. She considered his failure to disclose his location in Singapore to be deliberate dishonesty.

However, she also examined Graham's claims of a "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. 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.

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 noted he had already received four weeks' pay in lieu of notice.

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