An NAB banker who claimed he worked 18-hour days and was overwhelmed by an ‘avalanche’ of work has lost his unfair dismissal case after admitting he failed to read a seven-page policy that ultimately cost him his job.
Steven Knowles, who had worked in banking and finance since 1983, argued he was drowning under a crushing workload after being promoted to a senior business banking role in September 2024.
He said inadequate training and an unsympathetic manager set him up to fail.
Mr Knowles told the Fair Work Commission (FWC) that he worked up to 18 hours a day, including weekends, and feared his professional reputation was being damaged because he could not keep up with demand.
‘I’ve been drowning since day one due to the workload,’ he wrote in an email to his supervisor ‘Ms Z’, in response to being put on a performance development plan.
‘There’s only 24 hours in a day, and I’ve been working about 18 of those, including across weekends.’
He later said: ‘For the first time in my working life, I now actually fear going to work. It’s only human to be overwhelmed by an avalanche.’
Mr Knowles also claimed that his supervisor had a ‘tendency to condescend and impose a sense of unworthiness’ and had a ‘witch-hunt mentality’.
Steven Knowles (pictured) argued he was drowning under a crushing workload after being promoted to a senior business banking role at NAB
Knowles (pictured), an industry veteran, had worked in banking and finance since 1983
NAB dismissed Knowles in May 2025 after eight months in his senior role, but he insisted that he was far from the only employee buckling under the pressure. (Unrelated stock image)
Despite his complaints, Commissioner Jennifer Hunt found Mr Knowles failed to read and understand NAB’s covenant policy, which requires bankers to monitor customers’ financial health and report potential risks to the bank.
The commissioner accepted some of Mr Knowles’ criticisms of management, finding his supervisor was likely ‘abrasive’ and describing an earlier first-and-final warning over informal emails as ‘grossly disproportionate’.
However, she concluded his failure to read and understand NAB’s covenant policy after multiple warnings ultimately justified his dismissal.
‘His failure to read and understand the Covenants Policy, as directed, was his undoing,’ Commissioner Hunt said.
‘It’s a short document; only seven pages and should take an average reader less than 15 minutes to read it.
‘It is likely he could have read it in the time it would take to drink a coffee.’
The FWC heard Mr Knowles had promised to review the policy after earlier compliance issues and was later directed to do so, but admitted he still had not read it before further problems arose.
‘Financial covenants are important in the banking industry to manage risk, and this was a core responsibility Mr Knowles needed to meet,’ said Commissioner Hunt.
Pedestrians walk past a National Australia Bank branch on Queen Street in Brisbane
Commissioner Jennifer Hunt (left) found Mr Knowles failed to read and understand NAB’s covenant policy, which was ultimately his undoing. NAB CEO Andrew Irvine, who is not named in the Fair Work matter, is pictured right
‘It was not a discretionary task; it was bread-and-butter work.’
When asked whether reading the policy would have prevented the later mistakes, Mr Knowles replied: ‘Yeah, I accept that.’
NAB also produced evidence showing that Mr Knowles completed covenant compliance training months before his dismissal and had received multiple reminders about overdue covenants.
The bank initially alleged Mr Knowles’ delay in processing a loan extension resulted in a customer account falling into a $2.6million excess position, but later conceded the facility had remained secured.
Mr Knowles was dismissed in May 2025 after eight months in the senior role, but insisted he was far from the only employee buckling under the pressure.
While Commissioner Hunt accepted that Mr Knowles had been under ‘considerable strain’, she found his workload was not excessive compared to colleagues and ruled the dismissal was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable.
However, Mr Knowles said that despite being in the team for less than five months, four of its 14 members had moved elsewhere and two had resigned.
He said that losing his job would derail plans to help his three adult children get off the rental merry-go-round.
Mr Knowles told the commission he had committed to purchasing an off-the-plan apartment for the family, but the deal depended on him remaining employed and able to secure finance.
‘Employment termination would have a devastating impact personally, because I would no longer be in a position to help the kids,’ he said.
Despite dismissing the claim, Commissioner Hunt praised Mr Knowles as an experienced banker who took pride in his work.
‘It is clear that Mr Knowles is a very experienced banker and takes great pride in the work that he performs,’ she said.
‘In life, sometimes steps forwards and steps backwards are required.’
