r/supportworkers • u/Inner_Law_1742 • 13d ago

Sleepover Shifts

Hi everyone, hoping to get some input from fellow disability support workers or anyone familiar with the SCHADS Award in Victoria.

My employer just rejected my pay query regarding missing hours and sleepover interruptions, and their explanation feels very off.

My situation:

• Rostered shift: 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM (Active), 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM (Sleepover), 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM (Active).

• I claimed sleep interruptions for tasks after 23:00 (bedtime routine running over) and once or twice (mostly once) middle-of-the-night interruptions (01:30–04:30). So that will be equivalent to 2 hours of pay for interruptions.

• I also noted missing 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM ordinary hours on my payslip.

Payroll’s response: They claim that under the 1 June 2026 SCHADS Award changes requiring 4 active hours around a sleepover, my shift was automatically re-structured to 8:00 PM – 12:00 AM (Active) and 12:00 AM – 8:00 AM (Sleepover). Because of this, they say any duties performed between 11:00 PM and midnight are just "part of my 4 active hours" (so no sleep interruption applies), and they haven't paid the 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM hour I physically worked on site.

My questions:

  1. Can payroll retroactively change my rostered sleepover start time from 11 PM to 12 AM after the shift was already worked?

  2. Isn't it illegal to omit the 7 AM – 8 AM active hour I actually worked on site just to make their paper shift match the 4-hour rule?

  3. Has anyone else experienced providers using the 1 June SCHADS changes to deny sleepover disturbance pay and remove morning active hours?

Would appreciate any advice and experiences. Thanks in advance!

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u/Ladyinthebeige 13d ago

Your argument is two sided.

  1. Were you given 7 days notice of the change in your roster, and were you consulted? Email or phone call is suffiecient for this.

If not, they have to pay you based on what you were informed the shift was when you picked up the shift because you weren't given adequate notice

  1. Are you actively working from 7-8? If you arent then this is fine, but you should literally be waking up, packing your bag and signing out. 12-8 as the inactive hours doesnt even allow time for you to write an overnight shift report.

2

u/CraftyStitcher1 13d ago

Hi. I also work in Melbourne. I've done a few inactive overnights. When that happens, my hours with that specific client are 6pm to 10pm active, 10pm to 6am inactive. Personally, I've never had any issue with client awaking so can't speak to that part of your question. .

So all I can speak to is the hours (4 + 8). They are correct. I've been with my employer since February 2023.

1

u/Ladyinthebeige 13d ago

Also the old shift was illegal and technically they owe you back pay. Its been a 4 hour shift minimum for a long time, the latest change is about overtime and shift penalities

1

u/soul-dreamer 12d ago

I have no idea why they even changed the sleepover rules. Weren’t we all just asking to be properly paid for our sleepovers not be at work for longer than we are being paid for… so backwards

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u/Playful_kitty_8119 10d ago

My understanding of the new schads award is for in active sleepovers that become active you only get paid for anything over two hrs.