About the Social and Community Services Award (SCHADS Award)

Who it covers

The SCHADS Award covers employers and their employees who are within the classifications of the award and are in the following industry sectors:

• Crisis assistance and supported housing
• Social and community services
• Family day care scheme
• Home care

For example…

Some examples of employees covered by the SCHADS Award are:

• clerical and administrative employees in the family day care and social and community services sectors
• social workers
• community development workers
• welfare workers
• personal care workers working for a person with disability in their home
• youth workers
• clerical and administrative support employees
• crisis accommodation workers
• supervisors in a group home.

The SCHADS Award also covers labour hire businesses and their employees who are placed with an organisation in those sectors.

About pay under the SCHADS Award

Employees must receive at least their award-pay, which can be calculated using:

• the pay calculator at https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/FindYourAward
• the Pay Guide at https://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay-and-wages/minimum-wages/pay-guides

Common Issues for Understanding the SCHADS Award

Which sector applies?

There can be confusion about which sector applies to an employee.  This is an important issue as the pay rates can vary between sectors.  We recommend that employers take care to ensure they are approaching this correctly.

Which classification level applies?

This also can be confusing and directly impacts pay levels.  Again we recommend that employers take care to ensure they are approaching this correctly.

Do part-time employees need set hours of work?

When engaging a part-time employee, the employer will need to agree in writing to:

• A regular pattern of work including the number of ordinary hours to be worked each week (the guaranteed hours); and
• The days of the week the employee will work and the starting and finishing times each day.

These hours can be varied in writing by agreement.

Are part-time and casual employees entitled to a minimum number of hours?

Part-time and casual employees must be paid for a minimum of:

• 3 hours for social and community services employees; and
• 2 hours for all other employees.

Breaks between shifts/rostered work

Employees must have a minimum break of 10 hours between shifts.  By agreement between the employer and employee, the break between shifts can sometimes be reduced to between 8 and 10 hours where one of the shifts included a sleepover.

What is a sleepover?

A sleepover is where an employee is required to sleep overnight at the premises where their client is located, except in the case of a 24-hour care shift or an excursion.

A sleepover is for a continuous 8-hour period.  The employee is entitled to a sleepover allowance for each night they sleep over, which is paid in addition to their pay for the hours worked either side of the sleepover period.  If required to work during the sleepover, the employee must be paid overtime rates for the time worked, at a minimum payment of 1 hour.

What is a broken shift?

A broken shift is where there are two separate periods of work in a day broken by one unpaid period, other than an unpaid meal break.

Only social and community services employees when undertaking disability services work and home care employees, can be rostered for a broken shift.   Where that occurs the employee must be paid a broken shift allowance.

Staying on Top of the SCHADS Award

At WorkLegal our experienced team can answer your questions and put you on the right track.  A range of fixed-price Initial Consultations will suit most people’s needs in quickly learning what their options are.

An Initial Consultation can be an ideal opportunity for you or your business to get answers about how the SCHADS Award applies to your situation.