To better manage your employees, I recommend that all staff be required to sign off on their work timesheets to ensure the team’s well-being and to provide evidence of any absence from work.
As the threshold increases to $190,000 pa from July 2026, it’s time to clarify what this means for those earning less than this amount.
I often refer to the upper limit on wages, where award regulations and conditions do not necessarily apply, for any claim for underpayments or disputes heard in the Fairwork hearings.
With the announcement of the threshold for the 2026/27 year, all other employees, including those on fixed salaries earning less than the defined upper limit, must keep records, including the times they worked for determining the Better Off Overall Test (Boot)
Inzenius can determine the employees’ pay if they were undertaking activities covered by the award level, for comparison with what they were paid on the award
Agreed-to employee timesheet records will be used in such instances and will be required to defend the business if a claim of underpayment ends up in a Fairwork hearing. Without such a record, the commission will most likely accept the times worked as those declared by the claimant.
Inzenius facilitates this process for salaried employees’ timesheet creation.
Inzenius automates the compilation and distribution for each employee to sign on to their devices for the required worktime compilation and evidence required
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That Inzenius efficiency
Blog by Mark Daniel
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The High Income Threshold is one of those things people in HR, IR and management throw around in meetings as though everyone understands it, while half the room quietly nods and hopes nobody asks them to explain it properly.
In reality, it is one of the most important numbers in Australian employment law because it changes rights, risks and strategy for both employers and employees.
At the moment it sits at $183,100 and increases to $190,100 from 1 July 2026.
It mainly does three things.
First, it acts as a gatekeeper for unfair dismissal claims. If an employee earns above the threshold and is not covered by an award or enterprise agreement, they generally cannot pursue unfair dismissal through the Fair Work Commission. That often comes as a surprise to highly paid managers and executives who assume salary equals protection. It doesn’t. You can still have general protections, discrimination or breach of contract avenues available, but the unfair dismissal pathway is effectively closed.
Second, it limits compensation in unfair dismissal matters. Even if somebody wins, compensation is capped at the lesser of 26 weeks’ remuneration or half the high income threshold. So while LinkedIn loves a dramatic “I sued my employer” story, the reality is there are statutory limits around what can actually be recovered.
Third, it allows employers to use a Guarantee of Annual Earnings to remove award coverage for some employees. This is particularly useful where the award technically applies but bears little resemblance to the reality of how the person actually works. Construction, engineering, project delivery and senior operational roles often drift into this territory.
The interesting development now is the contractor’s high-income threshold introduced through the Closing Loopholes reforms.
A contractor earning above the threshold can opt out of the new statutory definition of employment under section 15AA and remain under the old common law contractor test instead. It also affects who can bring applications for unfair contract, unfair deactivation, and unfair termination.
In simple terms, this one number influences unfair dismissal rights, contractor status, award coverage, compensation limits and employment strategy across Australia.
Not bad for a figure most people only notice once a year when HR sends an email nobody reads properly.