Unfair dismissal – income threshold increases

On 1 July 2017, the income threshold for unfair dismissal claims increased to $142,000.  This means that an employee who is dismissed on or after 1 July 2017 and has earned more than this amount in the preceding 12 months will not be eligible to make an unfair dismissal claim even if s/he has served the relevant qualifying period.  This amount includes wages and salary, the agreed value of non-monetary benefits and amounts applied at the employee’s direction (e.g. voluntary superannuation payments) but does not include statutory superannuation contributions, payments which cannot be determined in advance.