How Should Sleepover Shifts Be Paid Under the SCHADS Award?

Under clause 25.7 of the SCHADS Award, a sleepover occurs when an employer requires an employee to sleep overnight at the workplace (or a participant's home) and be available to work if needed. The employee is not expected to be actively working during the sleepover period — they are permitted to sleep.

A sleepover is not the same as a night shift. If the worker is expected to be awake and actively providing support throughout the night, that's an ordinary night shift paid at the applicable hourly rate with any relevant penalties. The distinction between "available to work" and "required to work" is critical.

Employees on a sleepover are paid a flat sleepover allowance for the period, not an hourly rate. The current allowance is set out in the SCHADS Award pay guide published by Fair Work and is updated annually.

The employer must also provide a bed and bedding, access to bathroom and kitchen facilities, and a reasonable level of comfort. If these facilities are not provided, the worker may be entitled to refuse the sleepover or claim additional compensation.

This is where most providers get it wrong. If a worker on a sleepover is called to perform work, they must be paid at the applicable rate for the time worked — with a minimum payment of one hour per disturbance.

The applicable rate includes any penalties that would normally apply — overtime, weekend rates, public holiday rates. If a worker is called to assist a participant at 2am on a Sunday, that's the Sunday penalty rate for the time worked, not the weekday rate.

If the worker is disturbed multiple times, each disturbance attracts the one-hour minimum unless the disturbances are close enough to be treated as continuous work.

Here's the complication: if a worker does an ordinary shift followed by a sleepover, and then is called to duty during the sleepover, those called-to-duty hours may push the worker's total hours into overtime territory.

For example: a worker does an 8-hour day shift (8am–4pm), then a sleepover (10pm–6am), and is called to duty for 2 hours during the night. The 2 hours of active work during the sleepover, combined with the 8-hour day shift, means 10 hours worked in 24 hours — potentially triggering overtime depending on the worker's weekly hours and pattern.

Many payroll systems don't handle this interaction correctly because the sleepover and day shift are often processed as separate entries.

Workers in SIL houses sometimes do multiple consecutive sleepovers (e.g., a 3-night block). Each sleepover attracts its own allowance. If the worker is called to duty on each night, each night's disturbance is paid separately.

Providers need to be careful about fatigue management obligations under WHS law when rostering consecutive sleepovers — especially if the worker is also doing day shifts before or after the sleepover block.

Fair Work requires employers to keep accurate records of sleepover start and end times, any periods where the worker was called to duty (start time, end time, and nature of work), and the total payment for the sleepover including any call-to-duty payments.

If you can't produce these records during an audit, Fair Work applies the reverse onus — they assume the employee's version of events. Given that sleepover disputes often involve significant back-pay claims, poor record-keeping is an expensive risk.