Changes to sleepovers in the SCHADS Award
Published 7 May 2026
Learn about changes to sleepovers in the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award.
On this page:
- Background to the changes
- Ordinary hours of work
- Rest breaks between rostered work
- Shift allowances and penalty rates
- What you can do now
- Keep up to date
- Related information
Background to the changes
The Fair Work Commission (the Commission) has announced changes to sleepovers in the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award (SCHADS Award).
The changes take effect from an employee's first full pay period starting on or after 1 June 2026.
Under the SCHADS Award, a sleepover is when an employee is required to stay overnight at the same location as the client.
The Commission's decision changes how rostering and pay works for shifts that include a sleepover, in particular:
Ordinary hours of work
Employees and employers will be able to agree to extend ordinary hours of work to up to 12 hours per shift, if part of the shift is immediately before and after a sleepover period, with a maximum of 8 ordinary hours in either period of work. On those shifts, overtime is payable for any extra time worked over 12 hours.
Employees and employers can already agree to extend ordinary hours to 10 hours per shift under the SCHADS Award. Otherwise, shifts are 8 hours long.
Example: Ordinary hours of work before and after a sleepover
Zoe works as a part-time shiftworker in home care. Each week, she usually works 3 10 hour shifts that include a sleepover.
For these shifts, Zoe is rostered to work from 6 pm to 12 am, have the 8 hour sleepover period between 12 am and 8 am, then return to work from 8 am to 12 pm.
For one shift, Zoe is asked by her employer to change her 10 hour shift to a 12 hour shift.
Zoe agrees. Her roster is changed to 4 pm to 12 am.
Zoe has the 8 hour sleepover period between 12 am and 8 am and returns to work from 8 am to 12 pm.
Full-time employees
The changes clarify that overtime is calculated either per day or per shift, including where a shift spans across two calendar days.
Overtime will be payable to full-time employees for all work performed in addition to their rostered ordinary hours on any day or shift.
Part-time or casual employees
Where part of a shift is performed immediately before and immediately after a sleepover, overtime rates for part-time and casual employees will apply after:
- 12 hours if there's agreement between the employee and employer that the employee will work a 12 hour shift with a sleepover period
- 10 hours if there's no agreement.
Example: Overtime rates on sleepovers
Rama is a part-time shiftworker who works shifts that include a sleepover with a client for 10 hours. Rama’s hours for these shifts are:
- 6 pm to 12 am (first period of work)
- 12 am to 8 am as a sleepover period
- 8 am to 12 pm (second period of work).
On one shift, Rama’s directed to stay at work until 2 pm to help her client. Because Rama didn’t agree to work a 12 hour shift, the time worked between 12 pm and 2 pm is paid at overtime rates.
Several weeks later, Rama’s employer asks to extend her regular shift that includes a sleepover to 12 hours due to a change in the client’s needs. She will now finish her shift at 2 pm.
Rama agrees to this change. Because Rama agrees to work the 12 hour sleepover shift, the extra time worked between 12 pm and 2 pm isn’t paid at overtime rates.
Rest breaks between rostered work
The SCHADS Award has rules about employees needing a break of not less than 10 hours between the end of one shift and the start of another.
The Award is changing to provide that a sleepover period isn’t a break between rostered work. Work performed immediately before and after a sleepover period will be treated as part of the same shift.
Shift allowances and penalty rates
Shift allowances for shifts on both sides of a sleepover will change.
Where an employee is rostered to work immediately before and after a sleepover period, the portion of work before and after the sleepover period will be considered separately for the purposes of determining the shift allowances. This means the shift may have different shift allowances that apply for the two periods of work.
Example: Shift allowances before and after a sleepover
Marty is hired as a shiftworker.
They work a shift overnight on a Tuesday from:
- 9 pm to 11 pm (first period of work)
- 11 pm to 7 am as a sleepover period
- 7 am to 11 am (second period of work).
The SCHADS Award defines an afternoon shift as a shift that finishes after 9 pm and at or before midnight Monday to Friday. A night shift is a shift that finishes after midnight or starts before 6 am Monday to Friday.
Marty will receive an afternoon shift allowance for the first period of work between 9 pm and 11 pm. This is because the shift finishes after 8 pm and before midnight.
As Marty restarts work after 6 am, the second period of work is not a night shift and no shift loading applies.
What you can do now
The changes will take effect from an employee's first pay period starting on or after 1 June 2026.
We're updating the information on our website, including our Pay and Conditions Tool.
In the meantime, you can read the Commissions' decision and final determination.
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