How to Roster a Sleepover Shift Without Accidentally Underpaying Your Carer

Sleepover vs night active: the critical distinction

These are two entirely different shift types with different rates. Confusing them is the mistake.

A sleepover shift is where a worker sleeps at the participant's home overnight and is available to assist if needed. The expectation is that the worker will sleep. They are being paid to be there and available, not to be actively working.

A night active shift is where the worker is awake and actively providing support throughout the night. There is no expectation of sleep. The worker is working.

The SCHADS Award treats these differently because the nature of the engagement is different.

What the SCHADS Award requires for sleepover

Under the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award (SCHADS), a sleepover allowance applies when a worker is required to sleep over at a client's premises.

Key points:

• The sleepover allowance is a flat allowance (not an hourly rate) for the overnight period.
• The worker must be provided with suitable sleeping facilities.
• If the worker is required to provide active support during the sleepover, they must be paid for each period of active support at their applicable ordinary time or overtime rate -- in addition to the sleepover allowance.

The sleepover allowance covers the overnight availability. Any actual work done during that period is paid on top.

When a sleepover converts to night active

If a worker is required to be awake and actively supporting for more than a certain number of hours during the overnight period, the shift is no longer a sleepover -- it is a night active shift, and the worker must be paid at the night active rate for the whole shift.

The SCHADS Award sets this threshold. When the worker's total active support time during the overnight exceeds that threshold, the correct classification is night active, not sleepover-plus-allowances.

Practical example:

A worker arrives at 10pm and is expected to sleep. Between 10pm and 6am, the participant wakes at 2am and needs repositioning (15 minutes), and again at 4:30am for toileting (20 minutes). Total active support: 35 minutes. That is a sleepover. Pay the sleepover allowance plus 35 minutes at the ordinary time rate.

Now imagine the same overnight, but the participant has high support needs and requires two-hourly repositioning. Total active support: 3-plus hours. That crosses the threshold. That is a night active shift. Pay the night active rate for the full shift.

How to document the transition correctly

If a shift starts as a sleepover and the worker ends up providing support that crosses the threshold, the documentation needs to reflect that.

The worker should record:

• Time they arrived
• Time they went to bed (where relevant)
• Each instance of active support: time it started, what was done, time it ended
• Total active time

Without a record of when and how long the worker was actively supporting, you cannot classify the shift correctly, and you cannot defend the classification in a dispute.

How to set this up in Teiro

In Teiro, sleepover and night active shifts are configured as separate shift types with their own rate rules.

When rostering a sleepover:

1. 1.Select the shift type Sleepover (or your organisation's equivalent label).
2. 2.Set the start and end time for the overnight window.
3. 3.The sleepover allowance applies automatically.

When a worker checks out and records active support hours, Teiro calculates whether the total active time crosses the conversion threshold. If it does, the system flags the shift for reclassification and generates the correct pay lines. You review and approve the reclassification before it goes to payroll. The original rostered type versus the actual type are both recorded for your audit trail.

A note on NDIS price limits

The NDIS Price Guide publishes separate line items for overnight supports -- both sleepover (Assistance Overnight Sleepover) and active overnight (Active Overnight Support). The line item you claim must match the support that was actually delivered.

If you roster a sleepover but the participant needed active overnight support, you must claim (and pay) for the correct type.

Book a demo to see how Teiro handles SCHADS rate calculations and shift reclassification, or start for free -- free for organisations with 5 or fewer active users.