Under clause 25.7 of the SCHADS Award a sleepover is a continuous 8 hour span at the client's premises. The worker gets a sleepover allowance of 4.9% of the standard rate for each night, and any work they are asked to do during the sleepover is paid at the overtime rate with a one hour minimum. Since the first full pay period starting on or after 1 June 2026, the work either side of a sleepover is one shift, which can be extended to 12 hours by agreement.
What counts as a sleepover
A sleepover is when the employer requires the worker to sleep overnight where the client they are responsible for is, including respite care. It is not a 24 hour care shift (clause 25.8) or an excursion (clause 25.9), which have their own rules.
The rostering rules in clause 25.5 apply to sleepovers too, and a worker may refuse a sleepover only with reasonable cause.
“A sleepover means when an employer requires an employee to sleep overnight at premises where the client for whom the employee is responsible is located (including respite care)”
SCHADS Award cl 25.7(a)
The span and what the house must provide
The sleepover span is a continuous period of 8 hours. For each night the worker sleeps over they must have a separate room with a bed and clean linen, use of appropriate facilities (including food preparation and staff facilities where they exist), and free board and lodging.
“The span for a sleepover will be a continuous period of 8 hours.”
SCHADS Award cl 25.7(c)
The sleepover allowance
The worker is entitled to a sleepover allowance of 4.9% of the standard rate for each night they sleep over. The standard rate is defined in the award and moves with each annual wage review, so the dollar figure changes every July while the percentage stays the same.
The allowance is paid on top of the minimum payment for the shift worked before or after the sleepover (clause 25.7(f)).
“The employee will be entitled to a sleepover allowance of 4.9% of the standard rate for each night on which they sleep over.”
SCHADS Award cl 25.7(d)
Work during the sleepover
If the worker has to get up and work during the sleepover period, that time is paid at the prescribed overtime rate, with a minimum payment as for one hour worked. When the work runs past one hour, it is paid at the overtime rate for its whole duration.
Recording the start and finish of each disturbance, and what it was for, is what lets payroll apply the overtime rate and the one hour minimum, and lets the provider show why the night was paid as it was.
“the employee will be paid for the time worked at the prescribed overtime rate with a minimum payment as for one hour worked”
SCHADS Award cl 25.7(e)
The shift before or after
A worker can be rostered immediately before and/or immediately after the sleepover. The employer must roster or pay them for at least four hours for at least one of those periods. A sleepover with a two hour evening shift and nothing in the morning therefore still owes four hours of pay for that evening period.
“must roster the employee or pay the employee for at least four hours’ work for at least one of these periods of work”
SCHADS Award cl 25.7(f)
- 8 hour continuous sleepover span
- 4.9% of the standard rate per night
- Overtime rate for work in the night, one hour minimum
- At least four hours rostered or paid beside it
- Disputes go through clause 9
What changed from 1 June 2026
The Fair Work Commission varied the award for sleepovers from each worker's first full pay period starting on or after 1 June 2026 (decision [2026] FWCFB 79, determination PR798459). Clause 25.7 above still sets the span, the allowance and pay for work in the night. What changed is how the shift around the sleepover is treated.
Work immediately before and after a sleepover is now one shift. The sleepover period is not a break between rostered work, so it does not count as the 10 hour break between shifts.
An employer and worker can agree to extend ordinary hours to up to 12 hours on a shift that runs either side of a sleepover, with no more than 8 ordinary hours in either period. For part-time and casual workers on such a shift, overtime applies after 12 hours where they agreed to the 12 hour shift, and after 10 hours where they did not.
Shift allowances are worked out separately for the period before and the period after the sleepover. An evening period that finishes after 8 pm can attract the afternoon shift allowance, while a morning restart after 6 am is not a night shift.
- Work either side of the sleepover is one shift
- Up to 12 hours by agreement, at most 8 ordinary hours in either period
- Part-time and casual overtime after 12 hours with agreement, 10 without
- Shift allowances judged per period of work
Billing a sleepover to the NDIS
On the billing side, the NDIS support item for a sleepover is 01_010_0107_1_1 (Assistance With Self-Care Activities - Night-Time Sleepover), with a 2026-27 national price limit of $311.79 per sleepover, up from $297.60 in 2025-26.
Parkways handles sleepovers as their own shift type, prices them against the NDIS sleepover support item for the date of service, and raises SCHADS pay findings as prompts a person approves. Nothing changes a worker's pay on its own.
SCHADS sleepover rules: straight answers
How long is a SCHADS sleepover?
A continuous period of 8 hours, under clause 25.7(c) of the SCHADS Award.
What is the SCHADS sleepover allowance?
4.9% of the standard rate for each night the worker sleeps over (clause 25.7(d)). The standard rate changes with each annual wage review, so check the current Fair Work pay guide for the dollar figure.
How is work during a sleepover paid?
At the prescribed overtime rate, with a minimum payment as for one hour worked. Work that runs past one hour is paid at the overtime rate for its whole duration (clause 25.7(e)).
Does a sleepover need a shift before or after it?
The employer may roster work immediately before and/or after the sleepover, and must roster or pay at least four hours for at least one of those periods (clause 25.7(f)). The allowance is paid on top.
Is a sleepover a break between shifts?
No. Since each worker's first full pay period starting on or after 1 June 2026, the sleepover period is not a break between rostered work, and the work immediately before and after it is treated as one shift.
Can a shift with a sleepover be 12 hours?
Yes, if the employer and worker agree: ordinary hours can be extended to up to 12 hours on a shift either side of a sleepover, with no more than 8 ordinary hours in either period. Without that agreement, part-time and casual overtime applies after 10 hours.
Can a worker refuse a sleepover?
Only with reasonable cause, in the circumstances clause 25.5(d)(i) contemplates (clause 25.7(b)).
Sources
Read from these editions on 17 October 2026. This guide explains the rules; it is not advice on one person's pay or one incident.
- Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010 (MA000100), Fair Work Ombudsman consolidation to 1 September 2026 (PR813674)
- Fair Work Ombudsman, Changes to sleepovers in the SCHADS Award (published 7 May 2026, updated 1 June 2026), on the Fair Work Commission's decision [2026] FWCFB 79 and determination PR798459