A part-time support worker starts at 9pm on Friday and finishes at 8am on Saturday. That's 3 hours on one day and 8 on the next, so a payroll system that counts hours by calendar day pays no overtime. Under the SCHADS Award, a shift that runs over 10 hours across two days still attracts overtime. Hour 11 is overtime, whichever day it falls on.
What is SCHADS payroll software?
SCHADS payroll software turns rostered and worked hours into pay under the SCHADS Award: classification and pay point, casual loading, weekend and shift penalties, overtime, sleepovers, broken shifts and allowances. Good SCHADS payroll software also shows which rule produced each pay line, so you can check a shift before payday.
Below: the 7 features to check, a 5-shift test for any free trial, and what an error costs.
What is SCHADS award interpretation software?
Definition: Award interpretation software reads each timesheet against a modern award and works out the pay lines. SCHADS award interpretation software does this for the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (MA000100), which covers disability support, home care and social and community services work.
Interpretation isn't the same as running payroll. Payslips and Single Touch Payroll reporting can happen in a separate system. So ask every vendor where the award maths happens. Some NDIS platforms send timesheets to Xero or MYOB and let that system apply the award. Then the platform can't show how a shift was paid, because it never calculated it.
SCHADS payroll software: 7 features to check
1. Every pay line shows the rule behind it
A total isn't enough. Each line should name its rule: base rate, casual loading, Sunday penalty, overtime after 10 hours. A casual Level 2.1 worker's Sunday is paid at 225% of the $36.22 base rate, or $81.50 an hour, with the loading added, not multiplied. Our NDIS payroll software guide walks through that Sunday shift test.
2. Classification, pay point and stream for every worker
The classification changes more than the hourly rate:
Minimum engagement: 2 hours for casual and part-time disability services work, but 3 hours for other social and community services work.
Streams: since 1 January 2025, home care employees sit in an aged care or a disability care stream, with different rates. See NDIS vs home care software.
Higher duties: a home care employee working at a higher level for more than 2 hours gets the higher rate for the whole shift.
Current figures are in our SCHADS Award pay rates for 2026 guide.
3. Overtime triggers for part-time and casual workers
Under the SCHADS hours of work rules, part-time and casual employees get overtime for:
hours over 10 in a shift, including one that crosses midnight
hours over 38 a week, or 76 a fortnight
day work outside the spread of ordinary hours
The Friday-night shift above fails the first test. SCHADS payroll software that checks hours by calendar day misses it.
4. Shift loadings and penalty rates
Monday to Friday, an afternoon shift (finishing after 8pm and before midnight) attracts 12.5%, and a night shift (finishing after midnight or starting before 6am) attracts 15%. Weekend and public holiday penalties apply alongside the casual loading, as in feature 1. Nobody should be picking the loading from a dropdown.
5. Sleepovers paid as allowance plus active work
A sleepover needs a continuous 8-hour rest at the participant's home. The worker gets a sleepover allowance and at least 4 hours' pay for work before or after it. Time spent working during the sleepover is paid at overtime rates, with a 1-hour minimum. So a 20-minute wake-up at 2am is paid as 1 hour at overtime rates, on top of the allowance.
6. Broken shifts within the 12-hour span
Only home care employees and social and community services employees doing disability work can work broken shifts under the SCHADS Award. The software has to apply four rules:
Up to 2 unpaid breaks. A 2-break shift needs the employee's agreement each time, unless it's a part-time worker's agreed pattern.
A higher allowance for 2 breaks than for 1.
A 12-hour span, with work past it paid at 200%.
A 2-hour minimum per work period for part-time and casual workers.
A shift worked 7am to 9am, 12pm to 2pm and 5pm to 8pm passes the span at 7pm, so the last hour is paid at double time.
7. Rates and allowances that change on the right date
Annual increases usually start from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. The Fair Work Commission's gender undervaluation review is also changing SCHADS rates. Each new rate has to apply from its start date, even in a pay period that straddles it. Allowances need the same care: vehicle allowance per kilometre, on-call allowance that differs on weekends, and first aid allowance pro-rated for part-time and casual staff.
How to test SCHADS payroll software in a free trial
Run these 5 shifts in every trial, and ask which system did the maths.
Test shift | What a pass looks like |
|---|---|
Casual Level 2.1, Sunday 9am to 1pm | $81.50 an hour, $326.00 for the shift, each step shown |
Part-time, Friday 9pm to Saturday 8am | Hour 11 paid as overtime |
Sleepover with a 20-minute wake-up at 2am | Sleepover allowance plus 1 hour at overtime rates |
Broken shift: 7am to 9am, 12pm to 2pm, 5pm to 8pm | 2-break allowance, and 7pm to 8pm at 200% |
Home care worker, aged care stream | A different rate from the disability stream at the same level |
When your NDIS rostering software and payroll share one system, a broken shift past 12 hours gets flagged before the roster is published. That's the case for SCHADS rostering and payroll software in one place. For a full scorecard, see how to choose NDIS software and the NDIS software red flags.
How much does SCHADS payroll software cost?
Standalone payroll tools often charge per employee per month. NDIS platforms usually charge per participant or per user, sometimes with a setup fee. Compare the models on our NDIS software pricing page.
Then price the errors. Paying a casual's 4-hour Sunday shift at 200% instead of 225% underpays $36.24. If that worker does every Sunday, that's $1,884.48 a year for one person. Our SCHADS payroll audit guide shows how to check past pay runs.
Where does CareVisor fit?
CareVisor is an NDIS operating system, so SCHADS pay sits next to rostering and claiming:
SCHADS pay is worked out per shift, with the formula logged against that shift.
Hours come from the roster and GPS clock-in in the NDIS app for support workers.
Pay and the NDIS claim come from the same shift record. See NDIS claiming software.
Key takeaways
SCHADS payroll software is only as good as its award interpretation. Ask where the maths happens.
Part-time and casual overtime starts after 10 hours in a shift, even across midnight.
Sleepovers and broken shifts have their own rules. Test both in any trial.
Frequently asked questions
What does the SCHADS Award mean for my business?
The SCHADS Award sets minimum pay and conditions for social and community services, home care and disability support work, including NDIS supports. It decides your staff's classification, pay rates, penalties, overtime and allowances. Paying below it is underpayment, whatever your employment contracts say.
Can my current payroll system handle SCHADS classifications?
Test it. Enter a part-time worker's 9pm to 8am shift and a broken shift that runs past 12 hours. If hour 11 isn't overtime, or the last hour of the broken shift isn't paid at 200%, your system isn't applying SCHADS rules and someone is fixing pay by hand.
What happens if you underpay staff under the SCHADS Award?
You owe the back pay, and the Fair Work Ombudsman can take enforcement action. Since 1 January 2025, intentional underpayment has been a criminal offence. A setup error in payroll software repeats on every shift until someone checks, so test a sample of shifts every quarter.
Is there free SCHADS payroll software?
Free payroll software exists in Australia, but award interpretation is the hard part. A free tool that leaves the SCHADS rules to you means checking every weekend, overnight and broken shift by hand. Run the 5 test shifts above on any free option before trusting it.
Should rostering and payroll be in the same system?
For SCHADS work, it helps. When the roster and the award rules share one record, overtime, broken shift spans and minimum engagement can be flagged before a shift is published, instead of fixed after payday. Separate systems mean exporting timesheets and checking the maths elsewhere.
Check your hardest shift first
It sounds like you're not sure your last few pay runs were right, and you'd rather find out before a former worker does. That's a reasonable worry, and the fastest fix is to test rather than guess. Start a 7-day free trial with no credit card, and run the 5 test shifts above on sample data.
About CareVisor
CareVisor is an Australian NDIS operating system for disability service providers. It brings participant management, rostering, SCHADS payroll calculations, progress notes, incident reporting, worker compliance and NDIS claiming into one platform, with a mobile app for support workers on iOS and Android. Pricing scales with participant numbers, every plan includes unlimited staff, and data is hosted in Australia. Learn more about CareVisor NDIS provider software.
