SCHADS Award Broken Shifts Explained

Under the SCHADS Award, a broken shift is a rostered shift split into two or three work periods by unpaid breaks longer than a standard meal break. Workers receive $21.81 per broken shift (one unpaid break) or $28.87 (two unpaid breaks) as at 1 July 2026, plus their applicable hourly rate for each work period. The total span cannot exceed 12 hours.

This page is part of our complete guide to the SCHADS Award.

What is a broken shift under the SCHADS Award?

A broken shift is a rostered shift divided into two or three separate work periods by one or two unpaid breaks that run longer than a standard meal break. The worker stays rostered for the full day. Each unpaid gap separates two paid work periods within the same roster day, not a shift end.

Broken shifts appear most often in disability support and community services. Participant care needs frequently do not align with a single continuous work block. A worker might start at 7:00am for a morning routine, stop at 10:00am, then return at 4:00pm for an evening block. Both periods fall within the same broken shift under the SCHADS Award (MA000100), clause 25.6.

Which workers can be rostered for a broken shift?

Broken shifts under the SCHADS Award apply to part-time and casual employees across community services, disability, and home care sectors. Employers can roster a two-period broken shift with one unpaid break without needing the employee’s agreement. A three-period broken shift with two unpaid breaks requires the employee to agree before the roster is set.

Rostering a three-period broken shift without that agreement puts the employer in breach of the award. Broken shift misclassification appears regularly in NDIS payroll audits as a flagged issue. Providers need to confirm the type of broken shift and employment status before rostering.

What is the minimum engagement for each part of a broken shift?

Employers must pay part-time and casual employees a minimum of two hours for each work period in a broken shift. Rostering a 45-minute block and paying only for 45 minutes is an underpayment. The two-hour floor applies to every portion independently.

Minimum engagement is assessed per portion, not across the combined total of all periods in the shift.

What is the SCHADS broken shift allowance for 2026?

Workers who complete a broken shift receive a flat allowance per shift on top of the hourly pay for each work period. The allowance varies based on how many unpaid breaks the shift contains.

The allowance does not replace the hourly rate for any work period. Employers must pay the allowance and the applicable ordinary or penalty rate for each work period. Paying only the allowance with nothing for the work periods is underpayment.

The allowance is the smaller part of the cost. Splitting a visit around an unpaid break also changes the margin on the work itself, and we have set out the cost of a broken shift, with worked figures.

What is the 12-hour span rule for SCHADS broken shifts?

A broken shift cannot span more than 12 hours. Count the span from the start of the first work period to the end of the last, including all unpaid breaks in between.

A worker who starts at 7:00am and finishes at 7:01pm has a 12-hour-and-1-minute span. That breaches the cap and triggers overtime on all work performed after the 12-hour mark. The rule operates on spread from clock-on to clock-off, not on hours actually worked.

Providers frequently calculate span using only the hours worked across each period. Three hours worked in the morning and three hours worked in the evening with a six-hour gap produces a 12-hour span. Any roster finishing later breaches it.

When does 200% overtime apply on a broken shift?

Double time (200%) applies to all work performed after the broken shift span exceeds 12 hours. The span triggers overtime regardless of total hours worked across the periods.

On a standard shift, daily hours trigger overtime. On a broken shift, the span triggers it. A worker doing four hours across two short periods, spanning 7:00am to 8:00pm, earns double time for all work performed after 7:00pm.

Providers need to track span from first clock-on to last clock-off, not accumulated hours worked. Automated SCHADS award interpretation runs that calculation on every shift as it’s rostered.

Stop Broken Shift Errors Before They Hit Payroll

Wrong span calculations, missed allowances, and work periods below the two-hour minimum rank among the most common underpayment triggers under the SCHADS Award. Most providers find these errors at audit or in a Fair Work claim.

ShiftCare’s rostering software applies SCHADS Award rules at the scheduling stage. Start your free trial today. See how you can track span, calculate broken shift allowance, and flag minimum engagement issues more efficiently.

For how ShiftCare reads SCHADS rules as each shift is placed, not when it’s paid, see Workforce Intelligence.

ShiftCare’s SCHADS Award Interpretation applies these rules at the rostering stage, so problems surface before payroll runs. Book a 15 minute walkthrough and we’ll run it against your own rosters.