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The sleepover provisions under the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (SCHADS Award) are changing significantly. New rules take effect from 1 June 2026, applying from the first full pay period on or after that date.
These changes will impact how sleepover shifts are rostered and paid. Organisations that do not review their current arrangements before go-live risk underpayment exposure under the new wording.
Most providers will need to review their current arrangements, even those confident they are broadly compliant.
What has changed?
The main principle clarified is that a sleepover is NOT a break between shifts. Work performed immediately before and after a sleepover is treated as one continuous shift. Pre and postsleepover hours are no longer separate shifts for overtime purposes.
Why this clarification matters?
This issue has been a longstanding point of contention across NDIS Supported Independent Living (SIL) providers and aged care organisations operating under community and home-care models. Divergent interpretations have produced inconsistent wage outcomes and materially influenced overnight staffing models.
For example, some interpretations have treated pre and postsleepover work as separate shifts, suppressing overtime whilst others assessed the full span as a single shift, triggering overtime for comparable rosters.
Summary of the changes
Ordinary hours can extend to 12 in a sleepover shift – by agreement.
Employers and employees can agree to extend ordinary hours to a maximum of 12 hours of paid working time, excluding the sleep period. Previously, the cap was 8 hours (or 10 by agreement). This won't apply by default and will require a written agreement for each affected employee.
No more than eight hours permitted on either side of a sleepover.
Within an agreed 12-hour shift, a maximum of eight ordinary hours can fall before the sleepover, with the remainder after. Exceed eight on one side – even if the combined total stays within 12 – and overtime applies.
Overtime applies across midnight.
Where a continuous shift crosses midnight, overtime provisions now apply clearly to part-time and casual employees. Full-time employees are assessed under daily and shift-based overtime rules, which interact differently depending on roster design. Assess each employment type separately.
Shift penalties are assessed separately for either side of a sleepover.
Penalty rates are assessed per portion of work, not across the full span. Evening penalties apply to pre-sleepover hours falling in the evening band; post-sleepover morning hours are assessed independently. Applying a single overnight loading across the entire sleepover arrangement is no longer permitted.
Implications for your organisation
- Payroll systems: review your payroll system to confirm that overtime is assessed in accordance with the new requirements. Given the changes are quite specific there is less room for error and teams will need to understand whether this has resulted in an update to their platform.
- Payroll and rostering management: payroll and rostering teams need a clear understanding of how the changes could impact rostering practices and wage outcomes. Adopting a default “status quo” for rostering can carry with it huge consequences to business models that are already struggling with tight margins.
- Record and Timekeeping systems: must capture each component of a sleepover arrangement including pre-sleepover work, the sleep period and post-sleepover work. In general, accurate time capturing is a great way against protecting against claims for unpaid hours and supports an onus of proof in the event of dispute.
- Employee communication: affected employees need to be informed of the changes and any foreseeable impacts to their working arrangements. Where agreement is required under the revised provisions, such as extending ordinary hours to 12 hours in a sleepover shift, obtain this prior to the changes coming into effect.
- Legal review: seek legal advice where any aspect of the changes is unclear or where there is a risk of misinterpretation. For organisations operating under an enterprise agreement, this includes assessing whether the changes affect the ability to satisfy the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT).
- Insight: vendors may outline how their systems support these changes, but accountability for correct interpretation and configuration sits with the organisation. Engage your vendor early; Award updates are not consistently applied automatically and may require configuration changes or formal system updates.
How RSM can help
RSM's Risk Advisory and Data Analytics teams work across the disability, home care and community services sectors. We've helped providers navigate Award changes before, including historical underpayment reviews, payroll system remediation and rostering redesign.
Here's where we typically add value ahead of a change like this:
- Compliance health checks: review of current sleepover arrangements against the new provisions to identify gaps and quantify any exposures. If there's a problem, you'll know the size of it.
- Payroll system review: assessment of your configuration and to work with your vendor to close any gaps before go-live.
- Award interpretation advisory: particularly around split-shifts and mixed employment types. We provide practical guidance tailored to your specific roster patterns.
- Remediation support: assistance in quantifying historical underpayment activities
- Workforce analytics: modelling cost and coverage impacts of alternative rostering scenarios.
