What Is SCHADS? A Care Provider’s Guide 

The Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry (SCHADS) award establishes the minimum employment conditions for home caregivers and other workers in SCHADS industries.

The award covers minimum pay rates, dispute resolution processes, consultation rights over roster changes, employment types, employment termination processes, allowable expenses, hours of work, superannuation conditions, annual leave and more.

The SCHADS award is comprehensive. For example, SCHADS award pay rates specify the minimum wage caregiver pay rate based on:

• The time of day

• Day of the week

• Overtime duration and date

• The length of the break between shifts

• Contract type

• Work type, e.g. aged home care or home disability support

• Worker education level

• Worker award level

• And more

You can access the latest SCHADS award details (automatic PDF download) via FairWork.

The 9 SCHADS Award Levels for Home Care Staff

For home care, there are nine different SCHADS award pay points. These are divided over five separate levels:

• Level 1 — pay point 1

• Level 2 — pay point 1, pay point 2

• Level 3 — pay point 1, pay point 2

• Level 4 — pay point 1, pay point 2

• Level 5 — pay point 1, pay point 2

The higher the level, the higher the pay rate and the greater the employee’s responsibilities. Level one employees will fulfil basic home care tasks under significant supervision, while the highest-level employees will have management roles.

An employee can move up a pay point or level when certain conditions are met, such as demonstrating professional development. They may only move up once every 12 months.

SCHADS Award Pay Rates in Practice: A Breakdown 

To demonstrate how SCHADS award pay rates work, let’s look at an example. 

Let’s say Anne is a level 3, pay point 1 carer providing at-home aged care. Anne’s standard minimum weekly pay is $1,144.20, while her hourly rate is $30.11, reflecting a typical 38-hour work week. 

However, last week, Anne did an eight-hour shift on a Saturday, which has a SCHADS award pay rate of $45.17. She also did a four-hour overnight shift on Tuesday, which is compensated at $34.63. 

This means Anne worked:

• 26 hours at $30.11

• 8 hours at $45.17

• 4 hours at $34.16 

This adds up to an actual weekly pay of $1,280.86.

How Care Providers Can Stay Compliant with the SCHADS Award 

SCHADS award compliance is a major issue for care providers, with the FairWork Ombudsman applying costly fines for common compliance issues.

Ensuring the correct SCHADS pay rate can be challenging when there are so many award levels and pay conditions. However, these essential tips will help you avoid errors, pay your workers fairly and stay compliant.

#1 Roster with the SCHADS Award Pay Classifications in Mind

You’re not expected to memorise all the SCHADS award pay rates. However, you should stay aware of when the minimum pay rate changes. 

For example, make sure you know if a broken shift requires extra pay (only when working beyond a 12-hour span), when overtime rates increase (after two hours) and the requirements for rostered days off (two full days per week, four full days per fortnight or eight full days per 28-day cycle).

Knowing this will help you build compliant and fully budgeted rosters. Software management tools like ShiftCare provide schedule filters so you can quickly see when staff are scheduled, how many hours they’re assigned and the types of shifts they’re working.

#2 Move to Digital Timesheets & Shift Verification 

Manual timesheets are a major stumbling block for home care compliance. They are prone to errors and hard to verify. Records can be misplaced, a “7” can be misread as a “1” and a carer can accidentally write the wrong date.

Digital time-tracking tools offer a solution. You can set up geo-verification of shift start and end times, and your care staff can ask clients to digitally sign each shift report. You’ll have an infallible record — and since it’s stored digitally, it won’t get lost or have coffee spilled on it.

#3 Integrate Your Timesheets with Payroll

Software management is key to SCHADS Award compliance. Once you’ve ensured accurate shift records, make sure your payroll is also correct by integrating it with your care management software. In this way, you’ll be able to auto-generate payroll on time and correctly. 

Easy SCHADS Compliance so You Can Relax

ShiftCare’s care management software helps you stay compliant, whether through monitoring your rostered hour limits, collecting clients’ digital signatures or avoiding payroll errors thanks to accurate shift records.

Discover how care management software can make staying compliant stress-free. Try ShiftCare for free.