A landmark ruling calling out BHP’s “services” subsidiary as labour hire has left grey areas about who will be exempt from the Albanese government’s same job, same pay laws, even as traditional service contractors such as cooks and cleaners are likely to remain safe.

The Fair Work Commission ruled on Monday that BHP’s in-house labour subsidiary Operation Services was not an exempt service contractor as claimed and its 2200 workers across three Queensland mines must be paid the same as direct hires, at an estimated cost of $66 million.