By Editor,Kylie Stevens

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Police helicopter pilot makes extraordinary demand of his bosses after complaining $183,000-a-year salary isn’t enough to support his family and quitting

Sacha Gimenez left the force after eight years

His long service claim was dismissed

By KYLIE STEVENS, SENIOR BREAKING NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA

Published: 03:12 BST, 2 October 2025 | Updated: 03:15 BST, 2 October 2025

A police helicopter pilot who quit the force after complaining his $183,000 salary wasn’t enough to support his family due to the rising cost of living has lost his fight for accrued long service leave.

Sacha Bruce Gimenez spent eight years with the Queensland Police rotary wing before he resigned on September 1 last year, claiming it was prompted by ‘domestic necessity’.

He went to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission after his former employer rejected his claim to receive pro rata long service leave entitlements.

Queensland Police also rejected the reasons Mr Gimenez cited for his resignation, telling the QIRC that the ‘real reason’ was his ongoing dissatisfaction with workplace culture and conditions.

Mr Gimenez quit just under two years shy of the ten years required to access long service leave.

QIRC’s John Dwyer ruled in his findings on September 24 that Mr Gimenez was not entitled to the $53,500 payment.

In his submission to the tribunal, Mr Gimenez claimed that his requests for extra hours or to be allowed to work a side hustle to supplement his income were denied by Queensland Police.

He also claimed that he didn’t option to increase his salary through negotiation and wasn’t eligible for cost-of-living adjustment payment from the government.

Former Queensland Police helicopter pilot has lost his fight for accrued long service leave

He spent eight years with the Queensland Police rotary wing (pictured) before he resigned on September 1 last year

‘I faced a situation where I felt I had to terminate my employment because of domestic and financial necessity,’ Mr Gimenez wrote.

‘The financial pressures I was facing at work was compounded by a progressively worsening workplace culture and morale.

‘These were the real and motivating reasons for my decision to resign from the employer.’

Mr Dwyer dismissed Mr Gimenez’s claim for pro rata long service leave, citing his longstanding dissatisfaction with employment conditions.

‘There is scarcely a family of the same or similar dimensions to that of Mr Gimenez that does not experience financial pressure on a weekly basis,’ Mr Dwyer wrote.

‘With respect to an objective consideration of the compulsion to resign, there is nothing about the material or evidence put before the commission by Mr Gimenez that sets him apart from the common experience of most families.

‘By contrast, a defining and overwhelming feature of the circumstances leading to his resignation and his material before the commission is his very evident prolonged sense of dissatisfaction with the QPS.’

The commissioner also noted that Mr Gimenez had ‘astonishingly’ failed to give QIRC evidence of household outgoings and costs to support his claim that increased remuneration was a necessity.

Sacha Gimenez claimed he had to resign due to ‘domestic and financial necessity’

‘Mr Gimenez, like most employees, clearly aspired to higher remuneration,’ Mr Dwyer added.

‘This aspiration was undoubtedly for reasons that included his desire to provide for his family.

‘But what Mr Gimenez has failed to demonstrate, in either his submission or evidence, is why the increased remuneration was a necessity, either domestic or at all.’

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Police helicopter pilot makes extraordinary demand of his bosses after complaining $183,000-a-year salary isn’t enough to support his family and quitting

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