# Aged Care Award Interpretations in Astalty Source: https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-faq/aged-care-award-interpretations-in-astalty > How Astalty interprets worked hours into Aged Care Award pay-rate categories, sleepovers, broken shifts and allowances for payroll. Scheduling add-on - This feature requires the Scheduling add-on, which is available on Astalty Premium. See How to enable Scheduling. ## Overview Astalty uses the award on each worker's employment contract to interpret approved hours into pay categories and allowance quantities. This page describes the Aged Care Award rules currently implemented, including the limits you need to check before payroll. The Award Pay Report, Award Playground, interpreted Excel exports and Xero timesheet push use this interpretation. The Award Interpretation tab on a timesheet batch is available on every payroll platform. On Employment Hero, PayCat and QuickBooks Payroll, the payroll platform calculates award pay itself from the timesheets Astalty sends, so what it pays can differ from these figures. See [payroll platform differences](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/setup-pay-groups-and-employees-in-astalty#which-system-calculates-pay). ## Who this award covers Confirm coverage and classification against clause 4 of the [Award](https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000018.html), including its exclusions and any applicable enterprise agreement. Selecting an award in Astalty does not determine a worker's legal coverage. The Aged Care Award covers employees working in **residential** aged care - personal care workers, assistants in nursing, cleaners, laundry hands, food services staff and administration staff in a facility. Assistants in nursing moved into this award's direct care stream from 1 January 2025. Check these related occupations separately: > **Nurses and home care workers are covered by other awards** > > **Registered and Enrolled Nurses** are covered by the [Nurses Award](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-faq/nurses-award-interpretations-in-astalty) for eligible nursing work, including in aged care - this award has no nurse classifications at all. Put them on a Nurses Award contract with an **Aged care -** classification. > > **Allied health professionals** - physiotherapists, occupational therapists and similar - may be covered by the [Health Professionals Award](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-faq/health-professionals-award-interpretations-in-astalty), subject to that award's coverage and exclusions. > > **Aged care delivered in a client's own home** is covered by [SCHADS](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-faq/schads-interpretations-in-astalty), not this award. The Aged Care Award is residential only. Put these workers on a SCHADS contract with a [home care aged care classification](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-faq/schads-interpretations-in-astalty#home-care-classifications). ## Putting a worker on the Aged Care Award The award is set on the worker's employment contract: 1. Open the worker's **User Profile** and go to the **HR** tab. 2. **Create** (or edit) their contract and set **Award** to **Aged Care Award**. 3. Choose their **Aged Care Classification**. Leave **Base Hourly Rate** blank to use the loaded award rate for the pay period, or enter an intentional override. Choosing a classification does not change an existing amount; see [Maintaining Award Rates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/setup/workers/staff-contracted-hours#maintaining-award-rates). Classifications use the post-2024 **three-stream** structure rather than the old flat level ladder: | Stream | Levels | Typical roles | | ----------------------------- | ------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Direct care** | 1-6 | Introductory, Direct Carer, Qualified, Senior, Specialist, Team Leader | | **General and indirect care** | 1-7 | Cleaners, laundry hands, food services assistants, administration | | **Senior food services** | 4-7 | Senior cooks and chefs | > **Rates apply from 1 July 2026** > > Astalty's Aged Care Award classification rates are loaded from **1 July 2026**. An earlier period needs a verified explicit base rate and a separate check of historical rules. The aged-care work-value changes completed their scheduled steps in October 2025, but other award variations can still change rates or conditions. See [Maintaining Award Rates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/setup/workers/staff-contracted-hours#maintaining-award-rates). ## How your hours are interpreted ### Shift loadings A weekday shift attracts a loading based on **when the shift starts**. That start time determines the weekday loading. Weekend portions use the rate for the date worked. Public holiday flags take precedence; see the boundary check below. | Shift starts between | Pay category | Loading | | -------------------- | --------------------- | ------- | | 4:00am and 5:59am | Early morning shift | +10% | | 6:00am and 9:59am | Ordinary | - | | 10:00am and 12:59pm | Early afternoon shift | +10% | | 1:00pm and 3:59pm | Afternoon shift | +12.5% | | 4:00pm and 3:59am | Night shift | +15% | > **Part-time and casual employees only earn a loading outside the 6am-6pm span** > > For an employee working less than 38 hours a week, a shift loading only applies if the shift **starts before 6am or finishes after 6pm**. A part-time worker rostered 10am-4pm is paid at the ordinary rate, even though a full-time worker starting at the same time would attract the early afternoon loading. Full-time employees earn the loading by commencement time regardless of when the shift ends. Astalty uses employment basis as the test for this exception; it does not check whether a part-time or casual employee actually worked 38 hours that week. Review that case manually. ### Weekends and public holidays | When worked | Full-time / part-time | Casual | | -------------- | --------------------- | ------ | | Saturday | 150% | 175% | | Sunday | 175% | 200% | | Public holiday | 250% | 275% | Astalty splits shifts at midnight. A Friday 8pm-Saturday 6am shift uses the weekday night rate until midnight and the Saturday rate after midnight. A public holiday flag takes precedence over weekday and weekend categories. For overnight work, review [public holiday boundaries](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/setup/public-holidays#how-public-holidays-affect-charging-and-pay): an ordinary shift's holiday flag can apply to the whole shift. ### Ordinary hours and overtime Ordinary hours use the following caps. Hours beyond a cap become overtime: - **Full-time** - **8 ordinary hours** on a day shift or **10** on a night shift, per continuous shift, including across midnight. There is no separate daily cap. - **Part-time and casual** - **10 ordinary hours per calendar day**. - **Weekly / fortnightly** - 38 hours per week, or 76 hours per fortnight. For full-time workers, back-to-back shifts, travel that runs straight on and a recorded unpaid meal break of 30-60 minutes count as one shift. The joined shift takes the cap of the shift it starts with: 3pm-11pm followed by 11pm-7am is 8 hours ordinary and 8 hours overtime, and 11pm-7am followed by 7am-3pm is 10 hours ordinary and 6 hours overtime. Meal allowances follow the same shift. A gap without a recorded break starts a new shift. Part-time and casual doubles are not joined, because their cap is per calendar day. Overtime is paid at **150%** for the first 2 hours and **200%** after that. Saturday overtime is a single flat double-time band. Sunday overtime is **200%** and public holiday overtime is **250%**. > **The first overtime band restarts at midnight** > > The Award counts overtime on any day, so overtime after midnight starts a new first band, even within one shift. A full-time 3pm-11pm followed by 11pm-7am on weekdays pays 3 hours at 150% and 5 hours at 200%. > **Review work across pay-period boundaries** > > Award reports, timesheet exports, and timesheet-batch interpretation carry adjoining work from the previous period into the later period's shift, daily, overtime-band, meal, and minimum-engagement calculations. A free-standing playground scenario or date-range cost view only knows about the records loaded into it. See [work crossing a pay-period boundary](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-award-alerts#engagements). ### Casual employees The 25% casual loading behaves differently on ordinary hours and on overtime, and this is the detail most worth getting right: - On **ordinary** rates the loading is **added** - a casual working a Saturday is paid 150% + 25% = **175%**. - On **overtime** the loading is folded into the base **before** the overtime multiplier is applied - a casual's first overtime band is 150% x 1.25 = **187.5%**, not 175%. Casual and part-time employees also have a **2-hour minimum engagement** (full-time employees have a 4-hour minimum), flagged as a scheduling alert. Astalty pays a short engagement up to the minimum only when [**Pay Award Minimum Engagement**](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-award-alerts#pay-award-minimum-engagement) is on. Otherwise pay covers the approved hours only. With the setting on: - **Part-time and casual**: any break between two shifts starts a new engagement, so each portion of a broken shift has its own 2 hours. A worker rostered 9am-10am then 10:15am-3pm is paid 6.75 hours. - **Full-time**: shifts on the same day 10 hours or less apart are one engagement, and the gaps between them are not paid. Two 1-hour visits at 9am and 2pm are paid 4 hours. After a gap, a shift that starts on a later day starts its own engagement, so 4pm-8pm then 5am-6am the next morning is paid 8 hours. Work that runs straight on across midnight still joins. > **Check rostered hours and agreed arrangements** > > Astalty does not trigger full-time or part-time overtime solely because a worker exceeds their rostered ordinary hours. It also cannot represent every agreed roster arrangement. Review clause 25.1, mixed day/night work and changes to agreed hours before payroll, even where the shift, daily or period caps have not been reached. ## Sleepovers A sleepover attracts an allowance per night for every employment basis, and a rostered sleepover is expected to span between 8 and 10 hours - outside that range Astalty raises a scheduling alert. How **active work** during the sleepover is paid depends on the worker's employment basis: - **Full-time** - all active work is paid as overtime, with **no minimum payment**. - **Part-time and casual** - active work is paid at ordinary time plus any applicable shift or weekend penalties, with the usual daily and period caps converting excess hours to overtime. The Award has further conditions for sleepover work. Astalty does not apply the non-emergency lesser-of payment comparison, the part-time comparison with full-time hours on that day, or the double-time consequence of an insufficient post-sleepover break. Check clause 22.9 and adjust payroll where required. See [How To Roster a Sleepover Support](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-faq/how-to-roster-a-sleepover-support) for the rostering workflow. ## Broken shifts A day with two or more work periods is treated as a broken shift. Broken shifts apply to **part-time and casual employees only** - a full-time worker with a split day is not treated as working a broken shift. Work beyond a **12-hour span**, measured from the start of the first portion to the end of the last, is paid at double time (**200%** permanent, **225%** casual). On public holidays, span excess uses the public holiday overtime rate (**250%** permanent, **312.5%** casual). There is no broken shift allowance. Clause 22.8 requires mutual agreement and limits unpaid breaks to a total of four hours. Astalty does not enforce that four-hour limit or record the agreement; check both when rostering. Sleepover and active-overnight records are excluded from the span, so sleepover-adjacent work never reads as a broken shift. ## Allowances - **Overtime meal allowance** - one meal once a shift's overtime exceeds **one hour**, and a second once it exceeds **four hours**. Turned on at [**Settings > Scheduling > Meal Allowance**](https://app.astalty.com.au/settings/scheduling); it is **off by default**. - **Laundry allowance** - per shift, capped weekly, for workers with the laundry entitlement on their contract. - **Uniform allowance** - per shift, capped weekly, for workers with the uniform entitlement on their contract. - **Kilometre / vehicle allowance** - per kilometre, for approved travel in a worker's own vehicle. Astalty uses allowance rates loaded for the pay period. It does not retrieve changes live from Fair Work or update rates in Xero. Check both systems after a rate change; see [Maintaining Award Rates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/setup/workers/staff-contracted-hours#maintaining-award-rates). Clause 15 allowances - leading hand, nauseous work and the cook/chef tool allowance - are **not** calculated. The leading hand allowance is all-purpose (added to the minimum rate before penalties), so it can be built into the worker's contracted **Base Hourly Rate**, for costing. You must also configure the corresponding all-purpose rate in payroll; changing the Astalty base rate does not update Xero. > **Temporary vehicle rate from September 2026** > > Astalty costs eligible Aged Care travel at the temporary **$1.05/km** rate under clause 15.7(aa). Payroll still receives kilometres, so you must maintain its pay-item rate separately. See [Temporary Vehicle Rate](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-costs#temporary-vehicle-rate) for the pay-period commencement and return to $1.01/km. Meal provision and notice conditions need a separate check; the automatic meal setting uses overtime thresholds. Uniform allowance during eligible leave is not generated from rostered shifts, so check it in payroll. ## Scheduling alerts Astalty raises alerts while you roster, before the hours reach payroll: - Minimum engagement - 4 hours full-time, 2 hours part-time and casual - Minimum 10-hour break between shifts, subject to the [same-day checking limitation](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-award-alerts#minimum-break) - Broken shift span exceeded - Sleepover span outside 8-10 hours - Ordinary hours exceeded, for full-time and part-time employees. A full-time worker's shift is measured across the [continuous shift](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-award-alerts#overtime-alerts), against the cap of the shift it starts with. - Insufficient days off - two full days per week, or four per fortnight, for full-time and part-time employees ## Where you see the interpretation - **Award Interpretation tab** on a [timesheet batch](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/timesheet-batches) - the per-worker breakdown for the shifts in that batch. - **[Award Pay Report](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/reports/schads-pay-report)** - the same breakdown across a full pay period. - **[Award Playground](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/award-playground)** (under **Scheduling > Award Playground**) - experiment with hypothetical work records for a worker whose contract is on this award, including sleepover and active-overnight scenarios. - **Interpreted Excel exports and the Xero timesheet push** use the pay categories and allowances described here. Other payroll exports can contain raw timesheet records; see [payroll platform differences](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/setup-pay-groups-and-employees-in-astalty#which-system-calculates-pay). Each worker's expanded view includes the interpretation trace showing which Aged Care Award rules were applied - which cap was reached, which loading was classified, and why. ## Setting up Xero pay items Pay items are mapped per **pay group**, and one pay group's mapping can only encode one award's rates. Aged Care Award staff therefore need their **own pay group**. > **One award per pay group** > > A worker's pay group must match the award on their employment contract - Astalty blocks assigning a pay group to a worker on a different award, and blocks changing a pay group's award while it has members on another one. If historical data leaves a pay group mixed, the timesheet export also stops with a clear error telling you which pay group to fix. Whilst we cannot provide payroll advice based on your interpretation and application of the **[Aged Care Award 2010](https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000018.html)**, these are the Pay Items and their suggested multipliers when setting up Xero pay items for an Aged Care Award pay group. You should refer to the Award, or seek professional and qualified advice, to ensure accuracy and compliance for your organisation. | **Pay Item** | **Full-time / Part-time** (Multiplier) | **Casual** (Multiplier) | **Notes** | | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Weekday Daytime** | 1 | 1.25 | Also known as 'Standard' | | **Early Morning Shift** | 1.1 | 1.35 | **Must be mapped** - an ordinary rate any aged-care worker can attract | | **Early Afternoon Shift** | 1.1 | 1.35 | **Must be mapped** - an ordinary rate any aged-care worker can attract | | **Afternoon** | 1.125 | 1.375 | Casual = loading added on top | | **Night** | 1.15 | 1.4 | Casual = loading added on top | | **Saturday** | 1.5 | 1.75 | Casual = loading added on top (1.5 + 0.25) | | **Sunday** | 1.75 | 2 | Casual = loading added on top (1.75 + 0.25) | | **Public Holiday** | 2.5 | 2.75 | Casual = loading added on top (2.5 + 0.25) | | **Overtime 1st Period** | 1.5 | 1.875 | First 2 hours on Monday-Friday only. Casual = 1.5 x 1.25 (loading folded in first) | | **Overtime Last Period** | 2 | 2.5 | After the first 2 hours on Monday-Friday, and all Saturday overtime. Casual = 2 x 1.25 | | **Overtime Sunday** | 2 | 2.5 | **Must be mapped** - differs from the ordinary Sunday rate | | **Overtime Public Holiday** | 2.5 | 3.125 | Casual = 2.5 x 1.25 | | **Broken Shift Double Time** | 2 | 2.25 | **Must be mapped** - span excess. Casual loading is added, not folded in | | **Sleepover (Aged Care)** | | | **Must be mapped** - per-night allowance | | **Kilometre Allowance** | | | Per-km; check the temporary rate above | | **Laundry Allowance** | | | Only for workers with the laundry entitlement | | **Uniform Allowance** | | | Only for workers with the uniform entitlement | | **Meal Allowance** | | | Only if automatic meal allowances are turned on | | **Meal Allowance (Second)** | | | Only if automatic meal allowances are turned on | | | All Casual multiplier rates are inclusive of the casual loading. | | | > **Don't copy multipliers from a SCHADS pay group** > > If you already run SCHADS staff, it is tempting to duplicate that pay group's mapping. Several rates differ: ordinary Sunday is **175%** here, casual overtime folds the loading in **before** the multiplier rather than adding it, and **Early Morning Shift**, **Early Afternoon Shift**, **Sleepover (Aged Care)** and **Broken Shift Double Time** have no SCHADS equivalent at all. Set this pay group up from the table above. For the mapping workflow itself, see [Setup Pay Items and Employee Templates in Xero](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/setup-pay-items-and-employee-templates-in-xero) and [Setup Pay Groups and Employees in Astalty](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/setup-pay-groups-and-employees-in-astalty). ## Frequently asked questions ### Why is my part-time worker's afternoon shift paid at the ordinary rate? Astalty applies the 6am-6pm span exception to part-time and casual contracts. The Award describes it for employees working less than 38 hours a week, so review a part-time or casual employee who actually works 38 hours. A full-time worker on the same roster line can receive the loading. ### Why is my casual's overtime higher than the ordinary rate plus 25%? Because on overtime the casual loading is folded into the base before the overtime multiplier, rather than added afterwards. The first overtime band works out at 150% x 1.25 = **187.5%**. ### Why didn't a broken shift apply for my full-time worker? Broken shifts under this award apply to **part-time and casual** employees only. A full-time worker with two work periods in a day is not treated as working a broken shift. ### Does Astalty pay on-call for aged care workers? The Aged Care Award has no on-call allowance, so on-call rostered through the [On-Call Roster](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/on-call-roster) earns none. Each approved call, meeting or training session, and each **Remote Work (Not On Call)** record, is paid as a recall to work under clause 25.1(e): at least 4 hours at the overtime rate, with each recall earning its own 4 hours and any overlapping time paid once. Recalls export on the pay group's overtime pay items. The On-Call Roster beta must be enabled for your account. ### Where do my aged care nurses go? On the [Nurses Award](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/scheduling-faq/nurses-award-interpretations-in-astalty), with an **Aged care -** classification so they receive the higher aged-care nursing rates. This award has no nurse classifications. ### Who updates pay rates after the Annual Wage Review? You maintain your payroll rates and check the rate stored on each Astalty contract. Astalty uses loaded rate schedules, not a live Fair Work feed. See [Maintaining Award Rates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/setup/workers/staff-contracted-hours#maintaining-award-rates). ### Can Astalty tell me if my roster complies with the Aged Care Award, or give payroll advice? Astalty gives you the tools - the interpreter, the per-worker interpretation trace, the scheduling alerts and the playground - but it **cannot give payroll advice** or confirm compliance for your organisation. How the Award applies to your situation is your decision; refer to the [Award](https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000018.html) or seek qualified advice. ## What Astalty covers under this award | Area | Rule / behaviour | Supported? | | ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Classification & rates** | Three-stream classification structure (direct care, general and indirect care, senior food services) | Yes | | | Blank base rate follows loaded award rates (from 1 July 2026); explicit rates need review | Yes | | **Shift loadings** | Early morning, early afternoon, afternoon and night loadings by shift start time | Yes | | | Loading only outside the 6am-6pm span for part-time/casual contracts; actual weekly hours are not tested | Yes | | **Weekends & public holidays** | Saturday 150%, Sunday 175%, public holidays 250% (casuals +25%) | Yes | | **Ordinary hours & overtime** | Full-time cap of 8 hours (day) / 10 hours (night) per continuous shift, joining back-to-back shifts and recorded unpaid meal breaks | Yes; earlier-period adjoining work is carried into the later calculation | | | Part-time/casual 10-hour daily cap | Yes | | | Weekly / fortnightly caps (38h / 76h) | Yes | | | Mon-Fri overtime banding (first 2 hours at 150%, then 200%), with the first band restarting at midnight | Yes | | | Saturday overtime as a single flat double-time band | Yes | | | Sunday overtime (200%) and public holiday overtime (250%) | Yes | | | Casual overtime with the loading folded in before the multiplier | Yes | | **Sleepovers** | Sleepover allowance per night, every employment basis | Yes | | | Active work paid as overtime (full-time) or ordinary plus penalties (part-time and casual) | Yes | | | Sleepover span of 8-10 hours (alert) | Yes | | **Broken shifts** | Double time beyond the 12-hour span, part-time and casual employees | Yes | | | Broken shift allowance | n/a - this award has none | | | Four-hour total unpaid-break limit and mutual agreement | Manual check | | | Full-time or part-time overtime beyond rostered ordinary hours | Manual check | | | Sleepover payment comparisons and rest-related double time | Manual check | | **Allowances** | Overtime meal allowance (off by default) | Yes | | | Laundry allowance (per shift, capped weekly) | Yes | | | Kilometre / vehicle allowance | Yes | | | Allowance values selected from loaded rate schedules | Yes, subject to the rate limitations above | | | Uniform allowance (per shift, capped weekly) | Yes | | | Leading hand, nauseous work and cook/chef tool allowances | No | | **On-call & recall** | On-call allowance | n/a - this award has none | | | Recall to work: calls taken on call, and Remote Work (Not On Call), each paid at least 4 hours at the overtime rate | Yes; the [On-Call Roster](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/on-call-roster) beta must be enabled to record them | | **Breaks & rostering** | Minimum engagement - 4 hours full-time, 2 hours part-time and casual (alert) | Yes | | | Short engagements paid up to the minimum engagement (off by default) | Yes | | | Minimum 10-hour break between shifts (alert; same-start-date gaps are not checked) | Yes | | | Insufficient days off - two per week or four per fortnight (alert) | Yes | | | 8-hour break by mutual agreement (Astalty always measures against 10 hours) | No | | | Pay consequence for an insufficient break (must be handled manually) | No | | **TOIL & leave** | Time-off-in-lieu (TOIL), accrued days off (ADOs), leave entitlements, public holiday substitution | No | | **Classification & higher duties** | Automatic higher-duties pay, or determining a worker's classification level | No | | **Other** | On-screen rule traces explaining which award logic applied | Yes | > **Check the current Aged Care Award** > > [Aged Care Award (MA000018)](https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000018.html) ## Sources and Review The supported-rules table describes Astalty's implemented product behaviour. It is not a legal or compliance assessment. Before payroll, check the current [Aged Care Award](https://awards.fairwork.gov.au/MA000018.html), the worker's arrangements, and [Maintaining Award Rates](https://docs.astalty.com.au/guide/scheduling/setup/workers/staff-contracted-hours#maintaining-award-rates).