Labor is calling for an inquiry into how one of the Premier's most senior staffers was employed on a $250,000 six-month contract that was not advertised and didn’t exist before the appointment.

Gladys Berejiklian has denied her office had any contact with Transport for NSW secretary Rodd Staples before he urged his deputies to consider employing Brad Burden, who was the Premier's head of strategy for under two weeks after the March state election.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Andrew Constance, Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Rodd Staples (back left). Credit:Peter Braig

A series of emails and text messages obtained under freedom of information laws have revealed Mr Staples helped facilitate a meeting for Mr Burden and senior department staff before his employment.

"Further to separate conversations with each of you, attached is Brad Burden’s contact details. I suggest if possible you meet up together to see if there is anything Brad has to offer in either the broader stakeholder engagement piece or specifically in [infrastructure]," Mr Staples wrote in a text to deputy secretary Peter Regan and general manager Matthew Vane-Tempest on June 11.