Dismissed by a one-line text - and the case did not end at the compensation order
The Fair Work Commission has awarded compensation to a 67-year-old room attendant who was dismissed by text after she queried her pay.
She had cleaned rooms at a regional motel for nearly a year, working seven days a week. There was no written contract, no payslips, no tax withheld and no superannuation. She was paid by the room - by her own estimate, about $10.30 - straight into her bank account.
On February 25, 2026, after she messaged asking to be paid, a manager texted back: “You should get your pay by today or tomorrow. But I have no need your service anymore after on my site. Thanks for everything.” In a decision dated September 2, 2026, the Commission found that message ended her employment.
For HR teams, the case is a useful walk-through of two questions that decide a lot of unfair dismissal claims: is the worker actually an employee, and is the employer actually a “small business”?
On the first, the Commission found she was an employee, not a contractor - even though she was paid by the room with no tax or super taken out. What tipped it was control. A manager set which rooms she cleaned, expected her to start by 8:30am, and sent extra tasks by text. The label on the pay arrangement mattered less than how the work actually ran.
The second question is where multi-site operators should pay attention. A business with fewer than 15 employees is a “small business” under the Fair Work Act,...
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