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Hays fends off high-earning contractor's unfair dismissal claim

A worker engaged by Hays has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission that her hourly pay rate shouldn't be used to determine whether she was a high-income earner without unfair dismissal rights.

The worker had applied to the Fair Work Commission claiming she'd been unfairly dismissed, but Hays objected to facing the claim on the basis that: she wasn't its employee; she wasn't dismissed; her application was out of time; and she earned more than the high-income threshold of $158,500.

Setting aside whether the worker was an employee, Deputy President Lyndall Dean said it was appropriate to address the threshold matter first because, prima facie, the worker's earnings appeared to exceed it...