What Is a Broken Shift Under the SCHADS Award?

Under clause 25.6 of the SCHADS Award (MA000100), a broken shift is a shift worked in two or three separate periods of paid work within a single day, with one or two unpaid breaks in between that are not meal breaks. Each broken shift attracts a flat allowance on top of the hours worked.

Here are the bare facts an NDIS or aged-care payroll team needs:

• A broken shift = two or more periods of work in a day separated by an unpaid break that is not a meal break.
• It can have a maximum of two unpaid breaks (three work periods).
• It cannot span more than the maximum spread of 12 hours, start of the first period to end of the last.
• The allowance is 1.7% of the standard rate for one unpaid break, or 2.25% for two unpaid breaks (confirm the current dollar figure via Fair Work).
• Casual and part-time employees are included — they are not excluded from the broken shift allowance.

The rest of this guide works through each of these in plain English. For the full reference, including current dollar values, see our SCHADS broken shift allowance resource.

The key distinction is that a broken shift isn't just a busy roster — it specifically refers to a worker being engaged, released from duty for an extended unpaid period, and then required to resume work later the same day. This is everyday reality in disability support and home care: a worker might assist with morning routines (6am-10am), be off duty through the middle of the day, then return for evening support (4pm-8pm).

Two distinctions trip providers up constantly:

• A meal break does not create a broken shift. A 30-minute unpaid meal break in the middle of a continuous shift is an ordinary shift, not a broken shift, and attracts no allowance. The break that creates a broken shift is an unpaid period other than a meal break. See our SCHADS meal break rules for where that line sits.
• "Split shift" is not a SCHADS term. Other awards and industries use "split shift" loosely, but the SCHADS Award's defined concept is the broken shift under clause 25.6, with its own allowance and 12-hour span cap. Treat "split shift" as a colloquial synonym — the operative rule and the money is the broken shift.

The broken shift allowance applies to full-time, part-time AND casual employees covered by the SCHADS Award. This is worth stating plainly because a widely repeated third-party claim says casuals miss out — that claim is not supported by the SCHADS Award or by Fair Work guidance.

Fair Work confirms that part-time and casual employees also receive a minimum of 2 hours' pay for each period of work in a broken shift, even if rostered for less. So a casual rostered 6am-7am and again 5pm-6pm is paid a minimum of two hours for each engagement, plus the broken shift allowance for the shift.

The common error runs both ways: some providers pay the allowance to nobody, and some wrongly strip it from casuals on the assumption that casual loading already covers it. Neither is correct under clause 25.6.

The allowance is a flat per-shift payment, not an hourly amount. It depends on how many unpaid breaks the shift contains:

• One unpaid break (two work periods) — 1.7% of the standard rate per broken shift, under clause 25.6(a).
• Two unpaid breaks (three work periods) — 2.25% of the standard rate per broken shift, under clause 25.6(b). This higher amount requires the employee's agreement (unless it is part of an agreed regular roster pattern).

Because the standard rate changes every 1 July, the safest practice is to price these percentages against the current standard rate rather than memorising a dollar figure. As at the rates effective 1 July 2026, this works out to $21.81 (one break) and $28.87 (two breaks) per shift (2026-27 figures — always confirm the current amount via the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool). The 1.7% / 2.25% percentages are the reliable anchor.

Worked example: a part-time worker does a broken shift on a Saturday with one unpaid break. They receive the Saturday penalty rate for hours worked and 1.7% of the standard rate as the broken shift allowance on top. The two stack — they are separate entitlements.

A broken shift cannot exceed a 12-hour span from the start of the first period of work to the end of the last period. If a worker starts at 7am, their last period of work must finish by 7pm.

Hours worked beyond the 12-hour span are paid at double time. So a broken shift that stretches morning support and a late evening visit beyond 12 hours doesn't just risk a roster breach — it triggers penalty pay on the overrun. When you are checking rosters, measure the spread first start to last finish, not the sum of hours worked. For how this interacts with overtime and rostering limits, see those references.

The mistakes that show up most often when we audit provider timesheets:

• Not paying the allowance at all — many providers don't realise it exists, especially those who moved across from a different award.
• Wrongly excluding casuals — casuals ARE entitled under clause 25.6; stripping the allowance from them is underpayment, not a saving.
• Confusing a meal break with a broken-shift gap — a 30-minute meal break mid-shift is not a broken shift; a 3-hour unpaid gap is.
• Exceeding the 12-hour spread — morning plus evening engagements that span more than 12 hours from first start to last finish, with the overrun paid at double time.
• Missing the minimum 2 hours per period — each work period in a broken shift carries a minimum 2 hours' pay for part-time and casual staff.
• Not stacking with penalty rates — the allowance applies on top of weekend and public holiday penalties, not instead of them.

The simplest manual approach: audit every shift where there is an unpaid gap longer than a standard meal break. If the gap exceeds what's reasonable for a meal break (typically 30-60 minutes) and isn't a meal break, it is likely a broken shift and the allowance applies. Then check the spread against the 12-hour cap and confirm the minimum 2 hours per period.

Better yet, automate the check. CrossVault's Timesheet Validator flags broken shifts automatically — identifying which shifts attract the allowance, whether it's the one-break (1.7%) or two-break (2.25%) rate, whether the 12-hour spread is exceeded, and whether the correct amount has been paid. It applies the entitlement to casual and part-time staff correctly, so you don't inherit the common "casuals are excluded" error.