The Commission must take into account whether there was a period of time between an employee being warned about unsatisfactory performance and a subsequent dismissal, which gives the employee opportunity to understand their employment is at risk and to try to improve their performance.

An employee's punctuality issues causing tension with the employer and peers, while a source of frustration and annoyance, do not provide a valid reason for dismissal at law unless they constitute a breach of a fundamental contractual term or evidence an inability to perform central duties.

An employer's assertion of performance grounds for adverse action may be found spurious and unsupported where: (1) there was no prior expression of dissatisfaction before the event triggering protected conduct; (2) the employer's key decision-maker had no direct knowledge of relevant matters; (3) the factual basis for the claims is contradicted by independent evidence; and (4) the timing coincides suspiciously with protected activities.

An employer may dismiss an employee for valid reason relating to capacity or conduct including failure to attend work at scheduled starting times without prior notification.

Repeated warnings about conduct, including both written and verbal warnings, demonstrate that an employee has been properly notified of concerns about their performance or conduct.

An employee who believes that normal management processes require modification to account for their health conditions has an obligation to identify these concerns to the employer with clear and medically supported grounds, rather than expecting the employer to modify practices based solely on historical medical advice or known medication use.

Call centre performance metrics relating to call time, processing time, availability recording, quality, and technical support requirements are appropriate and capable of general achievement; employers are entitled to expect employees to consistently meet these minimum performance obligations as they are critical to customer service standards and timely advice provision.

Absent clear articulation from an employee of why normal performance improvement processes should not apply, a psychiatric condition does not render the application of those processes unfair, particularly where medical assessment confirms normal management is appropriate.

An employer's decision to terminate employment is reasonable when reallocation to other positions is not available due to inability to meet the same performance standards in those roles and no suitable alternative positions are available within the organisation.

The absence of any realistic articulation of the reason for dismissal can logically represent an invalid basis for dismissal; a broad description such as 'a pattern of performance issues' is so imprecise that it is not capable of representing a valid reason for dismissal.

When a particular criticism is rectified, the fact that the same particular reporting issues are not the subject of review at subsequent meetings plainly evidences such rectification, establishing a pattern whereby the applicant rectified identified deficiencies quickly and accurately.

A teacher's fundamental role is to establish and maintain a positive relationship with students in the class through rapport and respect, which is the foundation for successful teaching regardless of subject knowledge or planning ability.