Australia's Fair Work Commission (FWC) dismissed the woman's claim of "unfair" termination, stating that her dismissal was justified due to her engagement in misconduct.
An Australian woman, employed by an insurance company for 18 years, lost her job due to her firm's use of keystroke technology to monitor her performance while working from home. Suzie Cheikho, a consultant at Insurance Australia Group (IAG), was terminated for insufficient typing activity during remote work, as reported by New York Post. Despite her claim of "unfair" dismissal, Australia's Fair Work Commission (FWC) rejected her case, affirming her termination was based on valid grounds of misconduct.
According to the source, Ms. Cheikho's responsibilities included generating insurance documents, adhering to regulatory deadlines, and overseeing "work from home compliance," among other significant tasks. Her dismissal in February this year was attributed to missed deadlines, absence, and unavailability during meetings, as well as failure to complete a task leading to regulatory fines against her company.
In March, Ms. Cheikho alleged to the FWC that her employer had a deliberate plan to remove her due to her mental health issues. However, FWC's investigation concluded that her termination was justified due to misconduct.
In November 2022, the ex-consultant was issued a formal warning regarding her work productivity and was subsequently placed on a performance improvement plan. During a 49-day period spanning from October to December, Insurance Australia Group utilized keystroke technology to monitor her digital activities, revealing notably low keystroke activity on her part.
The company's investigation revealed that Ms. Cheikho began her work late for 47 days, ended early for 29 days, and did not adhere to her scheduled work hours for 44 days. Furthermore, it was discovered that she performed zero hours of work on 4 days. These findings, as reported by 7 News, indicated that Ms. Cheikho's average keystrokes per hour during the monitoring period were 54, suggesting that she was not fulfilling her work obligations as expected.
Nonetheless, the consultant refuted the claim of working fewer hours than required, asserting that she occasionally logged in using other devices. She expressed her surprise and confusion regarding the data, questioning its accuracy.
However, FWC Deputy President Thomas Roberts concluded that the evidence indicated Ms. Cheikho "did not fulfill her required work responsibilities during her designated work hours" while under surveillance. "The applicant's dismissal was warranted due to valid misconduct," stated Mr. Roberts, according to the report. He acknowledged the unfortunate circumstances but determined that the termination was neither unjust nor unreasonable.
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