A Sydney -based currency trader was fired after his employer discovered that he was working from Singapore while claiming to be working from home in Australia. The company tracked his laptop to a hotel in Singapore after he failed to return to work following a holiday.
After his relocation request was denied, Graham submitted a medical certificate claiming that an eye injury required him to work from home for three months. He then took annual leave and travelled to Singapore, as per the outlet. The company rejected his explanation.
In a termination letter issued in December 2025, the company said that Graham had failed to provide flight records showing that he intended to return to Australia or medical evidence supporting his account of his partner’s illness. (Also Read: She is hitchhiking from Portugal to Australia with a daily budget of less than ₹ 500 ) Evidence submitted by the company included a Microsoft Teams message in which Graham had asked to work from home, allegedly to be present for a plumber dealing with recurring bathroom problems. Because his partner developed a bacterial infection and required medical treatment, graham told the company that he had intended to return to Australia but had to postpone his flight.
He said that the change in plans happened over the weekend and that he did not think to contact his manager outside business hours. The company said that at the time, he was actually in Bali.
Graham was expected to return to work on November 17, but his manager discovered that he had not returned as scheduled. The company’s checks eventually traced Graham’s laptop to an Ibis hotel in Singapore.
“Our mate should be online today, first day since his holiday, so I will need your FBI skills,” his manager wrote in an email to an IT employee, according to a report by The Straits Times.
