Broken Shift Allowance Rules
A broken shift (also known as a split shift) is a single shift interrupted by one or more unpaid breaks that are not meal breaks. Under clause 25.6 of the SCHADS Award, a broken shift specifically refers to a shift worked in two or more separate periods of work within a single day, with an unpaid gap in between. It is one of the most frequently misapplied provisions in the Award — many NDIS providers either don't know the allowance exists, calculate it incorrectly, or fail to roster around the rules.
Quick Facts
- 1 Break Allowance
- $20.82 per shift (1.7% of standard rate)
- 2 Breaks Allowance
- $27.56 per shift
- Maximum Span
- 12 hours from first start to last finish
- Maximum Breaks
- 2 unpaid breaks (excluding meal breaks)
- Clause
- cl.25.6 SCHADS Award
Tools & Resources
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When is the Allowance Paid?
If you work, for example, 7am-9am and then 4pm-8pm on the same day for the same employer, this is a broken shift. You are entitled to the **Broken Shift Allowance**. The key distinction: a broken shift isn't just a split roster — it specifically refers to situations where a worker is engaged, released from duty for an extended unpaid period, and then required to resume work later the same day. This is common in disability support and home care, where a worker might assist with morning routines (6am–10am), be off duty, then return for evening support (4pm–8pm).
Maximum Breaks
Under clause 25.6 a broken shift can generally have up to **2 unpaid breaks** (in addition to meal breaks). A roster with 3 or more unpaid breaks is itself non-compliant. The allowance is a flat per-shift payment — currently around **1.7% of the standard rate per occurrence** ($20.82 for one break, $27.56 for two). It is not calculated on hours worked. Only one allowance is paid per day even if there are two breaks (the two-break rate replaces the one-break rate, not adds to it).
Who is entitled to the allowance
The broken shift allowance applies to **full-time and part-time employees** at Social and Community Services (SACS) Level 1 and 2, and Home Care employees at Levels 1 to 5. Casual employees do not receive the allowance — their casual loading is intended to compensate for these types of conditions. This is a common error: providers often assume the allowance applies to all staff or to no staff, when it's actually classification-dependent.
Maximum 12-hour span
A broken shift cannot exceed a **12-hour spread** from the start of the first period of work to the end of the last (clause 25.6(f)). If a worker starts at 7am, the last period of work must finish by 7pm. Exceeding the 12-hour spread is a breach, and any minutes beyond 12 hours are payable at double time. Some enterprise agreements vary this, but the base SCHADS Award is firm on 12 hours.
How the allowance stacks with penalty rates
Unlike penalty rates (which do not compound — the higher rate applies), allowances **stack**. If a worker works a broken shift on a Saturday, they receive both the Saturday penalty rate of 150% for hours worked **and** the broken shift allowance on top. The two are separate entitlements. The same applies on Sundays (200%) and public holidays (250%).
Worked example
A Home Care Level 3 worker on a Tuesday:
• 7:00am – 10:00am (morning personal care)
• 4:00pm – 7:30pm (evening meal preparation)
The unpaid gap of 6 hours is not a meal break. The span from 7:00am to 7:30pm is 12.5 hours — that's 30 minutes over the 12-hour cap, payable at double time. The worker receives the 1-break broken shift allowance ($20.82) **plus** the 30 minutes at double time **plus** ordinary pay for the 6.5 hours actually worked.
• 7:00am – 10:00am (morning personal care)
• 4:00pm – 7:30pm (evening meal preparation)
The unpaid gap of 6 hours is not a meal break. The span from 7:00am to 7:30pm is 12.5 hours — that's 30 minutes over the 12-hour cap, payable at double time. The worker receives the 1-break broken shift allowance ($20.82) **plus** the 30 minutes at double time **plus** ordinary pay for the 6.5 hours actually worked.
Common compliance traps
The mistakes we see most often in timesheet audits:
- Not paying the allowance at all — many providers don't realise it exists, especially those who moved from a different award. This is "Error 3" in our roundup of the seven most common NDIS payroll mistakes.
- Confusing meal breaks with broken shift gaps — a 30-minute meal break mid-shift is not a broken shift. A 3-hour unpaid gap is.
- Exceeding the 12-hour spread — morning + evening shifts that span more than 12 hours from first start to last finish.
- Applying the allowance to casuals — casuals are excluded.
- Not stacking with penalty rates — the allowance applies on top of weekend / public-holiday penalties, not instead of.
- Bridging shifts across separate engagements — gaps of 10+ hours between same-day work are rest periods between two separate shifts, not a broken shift. Only bridge segments into one broken shift when the gap is under 10 hours; longer gaps fall under the cl.25.4 rest-between-shifts rule instead.
How this interacts with sleepovers
Sleepover periods are governed by clause 25.7, not 25.6. When the gap between two same-day work segments is bridged by a sleepover, that gap does **not** count as a broken-shift break — the engagement is treated as a sleepover with adjacent work under clause 25.7(f), not as a broken shift. Strip out the sleepover before evaluating broken-shift rules. This is one reason automated compliance checks need to identify sleepovers first and remove them from the broken-shift calculation.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does the minimum engagement apply to each part of a broken shift?
- Yes. Each portion of the broken shift generally attracts the minimum engagement rule (e.g., 2 hours for SIL and Home Care, 3 hours for SACS), unless specific provisions in the Home Care stream allow otherwise for certain tasks.
- Is travel between broken shift portions paid?
- Generally, travel home and back is not paid. However, the allowance compensates for the inconvenience of the split day.
- Does the broken shift allowance apply to casual employees?
- No. Casual employees are not entitled to the broken shift allowance under the SCHADS Award. Their 25% casual loading is intended to compensate for irregular working patterns.
- Can a broken shift span more than 12 hours?
- No. Clause 25.6(f) caps the spread at 12 hours from the start of the first work period to the end of the last. Any minutes beyond 12 hours are payable at double time, and exceeding the cap is a breach of the Award.
- Is the broken shift allowance paid on top of penalty rates?
- Yes. The broken shift allowance stacks with weekend, public holiday, and overtime penalty rates. They are separate entitlements.
- Does an unpaid meal break turn a shift into a broken shift?
- No. An unpaid meal break (capped at 60 minutes under clause 27.1) does not break a shift. A broken shift requires an unpaid gap that is not a meal break — typically anything longer than 60 minutes between segments on the same day.
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