Broken shifts under the SCHADS Award: a rostering guide for NDIS providers

From the Rostery team. We make rostering software for NDIS and aged-care providers, so we spend a lot of time inside the SCHADS Award.

Split days are normal in disability and home care. A worker helps one participant get ready in the morning, goes home, then comes back for an afternoon visit. That's a broken shift, and the SCHADS Award has specific rules about how you roster and pay it.

Getting it wrong usually doesn't show up until payroll, or an audit. Here's what the award actually says, with clause numbers so you can check it yourself.

Who can work a broken shift at all

Under the SCHADS Award, broken shifts (often called split shifts) only apply to two groups: home care employees, and social and community services employees when they're doing disability services work. If someone isn't in one of those groups, a broken shift isn't an option for them under the award.

One break you can roster, two breaks you have to agree

You can roster a broken shift with two periods of work and one unpaid break. A meal break doesn't count as the break.

Three periods of work with two unpaid breaks is different. That needs the worker's agreement, and the agreement has to be made before each occasion, unless the two-break pattern is part of their agreed regular pattern of work (clause 10.3).

Practical tip: if a two-break day sits on your roster, keep a note of when and how the worker agreed. "They didn't complain" isn't agreement.

The 12-hour span

The time from the start of the first work period to the end of the last one can't go beyond 12 hours. Fair Work says hours worked beyond 12 are paid at double time.

So a 7am start with a 2pm to 7:30pm afternoon block is already over the span. When you add one more short visit at the end of the day, check the start time of the morning, not just the hours worked.

Minimum payment for every work period

Part-time and casual employees doing disability or home care work get a minimum payment of 2 hours for each work period in a broken shift.

Fair Work's own example: a worker does 90 minutes with one client in the morning, has a 3-hour break, then 2 hours with another client. The morning block must be paid as 2 hours.

There's a catch that trips people up. If a gap falls inside a minimum payment period, that gap is counted as time worked and doesn't count as a break in the shift. A 90-minute visit, a 20-minute gap and another visit isn't really a "broken" shift for award purposes.

The broken shift allowance

From 1 July 2026, the award sets the allowance at:

1 unpaid break: 1.7% of the standard rate, which is $21.81 per broken shift
2 unpaid breaks: 2.25% of the standard rate, which is $28.87 per broken shift

Weekend, overtime and public holiday penalty rates still apply to the hours worked. Check the current Fair Work pay guide each July, because these amounts change.

Travel in the middle of a broken shift

Fair Work notes the vehicle allowance generally isn't paid for travel in the middle of a broken shift when the employee is free from duties, including travel to the next part of the shift. It also isn't paid for travel to the workplace and home again. If your team drives between participants within a work period, that's a different situation, so be clear about where each period starts and ends.

The 10-hour break between shifts

Separate from broken shifts, every employee is allowed a break of at least 10 hours between the end of one shift and the start of the next.

By agreement, that can drop to 8 hours, but only around a sleepover: between a shift and the shift directly before a sleepover, or after the shift directly following one. A sleepover itself is not a break, and work immediately before and after a sleepover is treated as the same shift.

Non-casual employees also need at least two full days off each week, four each fortnight, or eight in a 28-day cycle, consecutive where practicable.

Three worked examples

These use the rules above. They don't include dollar amounts for wages, because those depend on each worker's level and pay point. Use the SCHADS Award 2026 guide or Fair Work's pay guide for the rates.

Example 1: a standard split day

Mei is a part-time disability support worker. She does 7:00 to 8:30am with one participant, then 3:00 to 5:00pm with another.

Two work periods, one unpaid break: you can roster this without asking.
Span: 7:00am to 5:00pm is 10 hours, so it's inside 12.
The morning block is 90 minutes, so it's paid as 2 hours.
Attach the one-break allowance ($21.81 from 1 July 2026).

Example 2: the extra evening visit

Same day, but a family asks for a 6:30 to 7:30pm check. That makes three work periods and two unpaid breaks, and it stretches the span to 12.5 hours.

Mei has to agree to the two-break day before it happens (unless it's part of her agreed regular pattern).
The last 30 minutes fall outside the 12-hour span, and Fair Work says hours past 12 are paid at double time.
The allowance changes to the two-break amount ($28.87).
Easier fix: give the evening visit to another worker, or start Mei's day later.

Example 3: the gap that isn't a break

Tom, a casual home care worker, does 9:00 to 9:45am, waits 20 minutes, then does 10:05 to 11:00am.

The first visit sits inside a 2-hour minimum payment period, so the 20-minute gap counts as time worked. Under clause 25.6(c), it isn't a break in the shift. Pay it as one continuous period, not as a broken shift.

Common mistakes we see

Checking hours instead of span. Six hours of work can still sit across a 13-hour day.
Assuming silence is agreement. For two unpaid breaks, the worker has to agree before each occasion, unless it's part of their agreed regular pattern.
Paying the visit, not the minimum. A 45-minute visit still costs 2 hours for part-time and casual staff.
Forgetting the next morning. A late finish followed by an early start can breach the 10-hour break.
Using last year's allowance. The figures change each July.
Calculating from the roster. Pay should follow approved actual times. If a visit runs late, the span and the minimums can change.

How to record a two-break agreement

You don't need anything fancy. A short record that answers these questions is enough:

Which worker, and which date (or which regular pattern)?
When did they agree, and how (in person, by text, in the app)?
Who on your side recorded it?

Keep it with the roster or the worker's file, so payroll and auditors can find it.

Quick FAQs

Does a meal break turn a shift into a broken shift? No. A meal break doesn't break a shift.

Is the minimum different for other community services work? Yes. For social and community services work that isn't disability services work, the minimum for part-time staff is 3 hours.

Can a sleepover sit in the middle of a broken shift? A sleepover isn't a break. Work immediately before and after it is treated as part of the same shift. See our guide to SCHADS sleepover allowances for the details.

A quick check before you publish the roster

Is this worker home care, or doing disability services work? If not, no broken shift.
Does any day have two unpaid breaks? Is agreement recorded?
Is first start to last finish 12 hours or less?
Is every work period at least 2 hours paid (part-time and casual)?
Is any "break" actually inside a minimum payment period?
Is the right allowance attached (one break or two)?
Is there at least 10 hours before the next shift (or 8 by agreement around a sleepover)?

Where Rostery fits

We built Rostery in Sydney to handle this sort of thing for NDIS and aged-care providers, with SCHADS-aware rostering and payroll. It's a paid subscription and you can book a free demo. If you just want to cost a shift or check a cancellation, our free NDIS tools are open to anyone, no sign-up needed.

For more detail, see our guides to SCHADS penalties, broken shifts, sleepovers and overtime and cutting no-shows in NDIS rostering.

If you like a weekly routine, our simple weekly rostering checklist for NDIS providers pairs well with this.