Sleepover Calculator & Rules
A "sleepover" under clause 25.7 of the SCHADS Award is where an employer requires an employee to sleep overnight at the workplace (or a participant's home) and be available to work if needed. It is distinct from an "Active Night" shift, and it is one of the most audited areas of NDIS payroll because the rules around adjacency, call-to-duty and overtime interaction are easy to get wrong. Use the calculator below to price a specific night, or scroll for the full rules. Rostered sleepovers every week? The sleepover allowance calculator totals them over a year.
Quick Facts
- Sleepover Allowance
- $62.87 flat per night (cl.25.7(d))
- Span of Hours
- Usually 8 hours (e.g., 10pm to 6am)
- Adjacent Shift
- 4h minimum on at least one side (cl.25.7(f))
- Call-to-duty Minimum
- 1 hour at overtime rates (cl.25.7(e))
Tools & Resources
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SCHADS Sleepover Calculator
Total pay for the sleepover
| Flat sleepover allowance (cl.25.7(d)) | |
| Call-to-duty pay |
Rates effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026 (FWO Pay Guide, MA000100), SACS classification scale. Sleepover allowance and call-to-duty only — the adjacent rostered shift is calculated separately. General information, not advice.
Active Night vs. Sleepover
An **Active Night** is a shift where the employee is awake and working throughout. This is paid at hourly rates with any applicable night loading or penalty.
A **Sleepover** is where the employee is permitted to sleep but must be available to work if needed. They receive a flat allowance set at 4.9% of the standard rate per night under clause 25.7(d). The distinction between "available to work" and "required to work" is what separates the two — a worker who is expected to be awake and actively providing support throughout the night is on an ordinary night shift, not a sleepover.
A **Sleepover** is where the employee is permitted to sleep but must be available to work if needed. They receive a flat allowance set at 4.9% of the standard rate per night under clause 25.7(d). The distinction between "available to work" and "required to work" is what separates the two — a worker who is expected to be awake and actively providing support throughout the night is on an ordinary night shift, not a sleepover.
Adjacent Shift Requirement (cl.25.7(f))
A sleepover cannot stand alone. Clause 25.7(f) requires the employer to roster — or pay — at least **4 hours' work for at least one** of the periods immediately before or immediately after the sleepover. The four-hour minimum only has to be met on **one** side, not both.
So if a worker is rostered for 3.5 hours pre-sleepover and that is the only adjacent shift, they must still be paid for 4 hours. If both a before and an after shift exist, only one of them needs to reach 4 hours for the rule to be satisfied.
So if a worker is rostered for 3.5 hours pre-sleepover and that is the only adjacent shift, they must still be paid for 4 hours. If both a before and an after shift exist, only one of them needs to reach 4 hours for the rule to be satisfied.
Work Performed During Sleepover (cl.25.7(e))
If a worker is required to perform work during the sleepover, clause 25.7(e) requires payment at the **prescribed overtime rate** with a minimum payment as for **1 hour** — even if the work only took 10 minutes. Where the work exceeds one hour, it is paid at the overtime rate for the actual duration.
Note it is the **overtime** rate that applies, not the ordinary weekend/public-holiday penalty rate. The overtime rate itself varies by day under cl.28.1 — double time on a Sunday, double time and a half on a public holiday — so a worker woken at 2am on a Sunday is paid the Sunday overtime rate (double time), minimum one hour.
Note it is the **overtime** rate that applies, not the ordinary weekend/public-holiday penalty rate. The overtime rate itself varies by day under cl.28.1 — double time on a Sunday, double time and a half on a public holiday — so a worker woken at 2am on a Sunday is paid the Sunday overtime rate (double time), minimum one hour.
Worked example
A SIL worker does an 8-hour day shift from 8am to 4pm, then a sleepover from 10pm to 6am, and is woken at 2am to assist a participant for about 30 minutes.
Pay breakdown: 8 hours of day shift at the ordinary rate, the flat sleepover allowance for the night, and a **1-hour minimum payment at the overtime rate** for the 2am call-to-duty (cl.25.7(e)). Once the call-to-duty hour is added to the 8-hour day shift, the worker has clocked roughly 9–10 hours of active work in a 24-hour window. Many payroll systems miss this interaction because the day shift and sleepover are processed as separate entries — but daily and weekly overtime thresholds apply to total active hours, not entries.
Pay breakdown: 8 hours of day shift at the ordinary rate, the flat sleepover allowance for the night, and a **1-hour minimum payment at the overtime rate** for the 2am call-to-duty (cl.25.7(e)). Once the call-to-duty hour is added to the 8-hour day shift, the worker has clocked roughly 9–10 hours of active work in a 24-hour window. Many payroll systems miss this interaction because the day shift and sleepover are processed as separate entries — but daily and weekly overtime thresholds apply to total active hours, not entries.
Consecutive sleepovers and rest-break rules
Workers in SIL houses sometimes do multiple consecutive sleepovers (e.g., a 3-night block). Each sleepover attracts its own allowance, and each night's call-to-duty is paid separately. WHS fatigue obligations matter when rostering consecutive sleepovers alongside day shifts.
From the **1 June 2026 variation (FWC determination PR798459)**, a sleepover does not constitute a "break" between rostered work periods for clause 25.4 rest-break purposes (cl.25.4(c)), and work immediately before and after a sleepover is treated as part of the same shift. The 8-hour rest exception in cl.25.4(b) still exists, but only by agreement between the employee and employer — sleepover-adjacency alone does not reduce the minimum 10-hour rest gap to 8 hours.
From the **1 June 2026 variation (FWC determination PR798459)**, a sleepover does not constitute a "break" between rostered work periods for clause 25.4 rest-break purposes (cl.25.4(c)), and work immediately before and after a sleepover is treated as part of the same shift. The 8-hour rest exception in cl.25.4(b) still exists, but only by agreement between the employee and employer — sleepover-adjacency alone does not reduce the minimum 10-hour rest gap to 8 hours.
Common mistakes
In timesheet audits, the recurring sleepover errors are: paying the allowance but never tracking call-to-duty; applying the weekday overtime rate when the disturbance was on a Sunday or public holiday; treating a day shift that merely contains the word "Sleepover" in a client name as a real sleepover (genuine sleepovers must span overnight and be explicitly flagged); and failing to retain the records Fair Work needs — start and end times, each disturbance, and how the payment was calculated. Without those records, Fair Work applies the reverse onus and accepts the employee's version of events.
Workers: is your sleepover pay right?
If you do sleepovers and want to know whether your own payslip is right: every sleepover night should show the flat $62.87 allowance as its own line, plus separately paid time (1-hour minimum at overtime rates) for any night you were woken to work. Upload a payslip to our free payslip check and it verifies the sleepover lines — and every other rate and allowance on the slip — against the current award minimums. See also: the six checks every support worker should run.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
- What facilities must be provided for a sleepover?
- The employer must provide a separate room with a bed, clean linen, access to bathroom and kitchen facilities, and appropriate privacy. If facilities are not provided the worker may refuse the sleepover.
- Can a sleepover be rostered back-to-back?
- Yes — each consecutive sleepover attracts its own allowance and its own call-to-duty entitlements. Mind fatigue management and potential overtime triggers if total worked hours (day shifts plus any call-to-duty) push past daily or weekly thresholds.
- What is the minimum payment if a worker is disturbed during a sleepover?
- A minimum of one hour at the prescribed overtime rate for work performed during the sleepover (cl.25.7(e)); if the work exceeds one hour it is paid for the actual duration. The overtime rate varies by day under cl.28.1 — double time on Sundays, double time and a half on public holidays.
- Do sleepover hours count towards overtime?
- The sleepover period itself is not "hours worked" for overtime purposes. However, time spent on call-to-duty during the sleepover IS hours worked and can combine with adjacent shifts to trigger daily or weekly overtime.
- Is a sleepover the same as an overnight active shift?
- No. A sleepover means the worker is permitted to sleep and is only available if needed. An overnight active shift means the worker is expected to be awake and working — paid at hourly rates with any applicable night-shift loading, not a flat allowance.
- What is the sleepover rate for SCHADS?
- The SCHADS sleepover allowance is 4.9% of the standard rate per night under clause 25.7(d). It is a flat per-night payment for being available to sleep at the workplace, paid on top of any adjacent rostered shift. If the worker is woken to perform work, that call-to-duty is paid separately at the overtime rate with a minimum of one hour (cl.25.7(e)).
- What are the NDIS sleepover rules?
- Most NDIS support work (including SIL houses) is covered by the SCHADS Award, so the same sleepover rules apply: a flat allowance of 4.9% of the standard rate per night (cl.25.7(d)), at least 4 hours' work rostered or paid on one adjacent side (cl.25.7(f)), and a 1-hour minimum at overtime rates for any work performed during the night (cl.25.7(e)). A genuine sleepover must span overnight with the worker permitted to sleep — it is distinct from an Active Night shift where the worker is awake and working throughout.
- What is a sleepover allowance?
- A sleepover allowance is the flat payment an employee receives for being required to sleep overnight at the workplace and be available to work if needed, set at 4.9% of the standard rate per night under clause 25.7(d). It compensates availability, not active work — any work actually performed during the sleepover is paid separately at the overtime rate, minimum one hour (cl.25.7(e)).
- How much does NDIS pay for a sleepover?
- For NDIS support work covered by SCHADS, a sleepover pays the flat allowance of 4.9% of the standard rate per night (cl.25.7(d)), plus the adjacent rostered shift (at least 4 hours on one side under cl.25.7(f)). If the worker is woken to assist, that time is paid on top at the overtime rate with a minimum payment of one hour (cl.25.7(e)).
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