SCHADS Award in Home Care: Coverage, Shift Rules and Payroll Checks

A reliable home care payroll starts before the pay run: with the worker’s employment arrangement, the work they perform and the hours actually recorded. For an operations manager, the practical challenge is keeping those decisions connected as visits change, workers cover additional shifts and payroll deadlines approach.

This guide explains the main SCHADS decisions to check. For a repeatable fortnightly process, use our aged care payroll guide. Guidance reviewed 25 September 2026.

The SCHADS Award covers specified social, community, home care and disability services work. An enterprise agreement or another award, such as the Aged Care Award or Nurses Award, may apply. Start with Fair Work’s coverage guidance and record the instrument applying to each role.

Within SCHADS, Schedule B covers social and community services (SACS) classifications; Schedule F has six home care aged-care levels. They are different streams. Use the relevant descriptors, including duties and qualification requirements, rather than assigning a SACS level from a home care job title. See the current award.

Keep a short classification record: the role assessed, evidence considered, decision owner and review date. Revisit it when the role changes. This gives payroll a decision it can trace instead of a label it must interpret.

For ordinary shiftwork, clause 29 defines afternoon and night shifts by their start or finish times and applies the relevant loading to the whole shift. A 15-minute calculation interval is not an award requirement. Weekend, public holiday, overtime, broken-shift and sleepover interactions need their own treatment. See clauses 25–29 and 34.

In a software evaluation, bring an evening shift, an overnight shift crossing a weekend and a public holiday example. Ask the supplier to explain the rule selected and compare the result with an independently checked calculation. A detailed breakdown is useful only when the underlying rule is correct.

Required travel between clients during active work can be paid work time. A vehicle allowance applies when the worker is required and authorised to use their own vehicle for work. Ordinary commuting and travel during a duty-free broken-shift gap are treated differently. Check Fair Work’s travel guidance.

Record the journey, minutes and kilometres separately. A gap between visit timestamps does not, by itself, establish how long someone spent travelling. Agree how workers explain the journey and who reviews it before payroll.

For part-time and casual employees, the usual minimum payment is three hours for SACS work other than disability services, and two hours for the other streams. A minimum payment period can cover more than one client. Broken shifts and remote work need their specific rules.

Sleepover rules changed from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 June 2026. Use Fair Work’s current hours guidance when checking overnight rosters and work performed during a sleepover.

Include a short visit, a split day and an interrupted overnight arrangement in your payroll test pack. Save the expected outcome and its source so that the same cases can be checked after a configuration or rate change.

A useful review pack connects each exception to its worker, shift, supporting record and resolution. Start with these questions:

• Can a reviewer see why a classification was selected?
• Can recorded work be distinguished from the original roster?
• Are travel claims visible separately from visit time?
• Can a rate or configuration change be traced to its effective date?
• Does the payroll provider receive the intended workers and amounts?

Use the software evaluation workbook to capture evidence from each supplier against the same scenarios.

Use your SCHADS test pack to evaluate Statura Care’s payroll calculation stage. Bring your classification decisions, shift examples and independently checked results. Ask to inspect a calculation blocker and the records needed to resolve it.

In a tailored demonstration, agree the supported award and agreement configuration, how effective rates are maintained and who approves changes. Record those decisions in your evaluation workbook before planning rollout.