Nurses Award Interpretations in Astalty

Overview

Astalty's Nurses Award interpreter processes approved shifts for workers employed under the Nurses Award (MA000034) and translates worked hours into the correct pay-rate categories and allowance lines for payroll. The award is set per worker on their employment contract, so a provider can run SCHADS support workers and Nurses Award staff side by side, and every interpretation surface — the Award Interpretation tab on timesheet batches, the Award Pay Report, the Award Playground and the payroll exports — interprets each worker under the award on their own contract. It does not replace the need for compliant rostering and HR practices.

Who this award covers

The Nurses Award covers Registered Nurses, Enrolled Nurses, Nursing Assistants and Nurse Practitioners — and it follows the nurse into any workplace. A nurse delivering NDIS nursing supports, working in a residential aged care facility or providing in-home care is on the Nurses Award, even where the rest of the workforce is on SCHADS or the Aged Care Award.

Putting a worker on the Nurses 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 Nurses Award.
3. Choose their Nurses Classification and pay point — the Base Hourly Rate fills in automatically from the current award rates. You can override the base rate if you pay above award.

The classification list covers both rate tables. The general (non-aged-care) classifications come first — Nursing Assistants, Student and regular Enrolled Nurses, Registered Nurses (levels 1–5), Occupational Health Nurses and Nurse Practitioners, each with their pay points — followed by the aged-care classifications, prefixed Aged care —. SCHADS-only contract fields — the SCHADS Overtime Stream, First Aid Allowance entitlement and Minimum Break Near a Sleepover — do not apply to a Nurses Award contract and are hidden. See Staff Contracted Hours for the contract workflow.

Aged-care nurses

Registered and Enrolled Nurses working in aged care are covered by the Nurses Award, not the Aged Care Award. The Nurses Award follows the nurse into any workplace, while the Aged Care Award only covers the classifications listed in its own rates clause — and Registered and Enrolled Nurses are not among them. So an RN in a residential facility goes on a Nurses Award contract in Astalty.

Whether a nurse is an "aged-care employee" depends on the work they do, not who employs them. The Award covers services for aged persons in a residential facility and services for an aged person in a private residence — so a nurse doing in-home aged care is on the aged-care rates too, even where that provider's non-nurse staff are on SCHADS.

To put a nurse on the aged-care rates, choose a classification prefixed Aged care — when you set up their contract. The Base Hourly Rate fills in from the aged-care table, which is materially higher — an aged-care Registered Nurse level 1 in their first year is $39.87/hr against $32.09/hr for the equivalent general classification.

Only the base rate differs between the two tables. Penalties, overtime bands, shift and casual loadings, and the dollar value of every allowance are identical — so aged-care nurses need no extra Xero pay items, and everything else on this page applies to them unchanged.

How your hours are interpreted

Shift loadings

A weekday shift attracts a loading based on when it starts and finishes. The loading applies to the whole shift:

Where a rule has a stricter and a looser reading, Astalty takes the reading that cannot underpay — for example, any shift starting at 6pm or later is classified as a night shift, without applying the Award's "finishing before 7:30am" carve-out.

Weekends and public holidays

Ordinary hours and overtime

Ordinary hours are capped per shift and across the pay period. Hours beyond a cap become overtime:

• Per shift — 10 ordinary hours (or a lower cap the worker has agreed to).
• Weekly / fortnightly — 38 hours per week, or 76 hours per fortnight.

Overtime from Monday to Saturday is paid at 150% for the first 2 hours and 200% after that. Sunday overtime is 200% and public holiday overtime is 250%.

Part-time employees only reach overtime once they work beyond full-time hours — more than 10 ordinary hours in a shift, or more than 38 hours in a week (76 in a fortnight) — not when they pass their own contracted hours.

Casual employees

The 25% casual loading applies in two ways under this award:

• Shift loadings (afternoon and night) are added on top of the loaded rate — a casual on a night shift is paid 115% + 25% = 140%.
• Weekend, public holiday and overtime rates are compounded on the loaded rate — a casual working a Saturday is paid 150% × 1.25 = 187.5%, and a casual's first overtime band is also 150% × 1.25 = 187.5%.

Casual employees also have a 2-hour minimum engagement, flagged as a scheduling alert.

Senior Registered Nurses

Registered Nurses at levels 4 and 5 are exempt from shift loadings, overtime and allowances under the Award — their hours are paid at the ordinary rate, with weekend and public holiday penalties still applying.

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; it is off by default and shares its setting with the other awards.
• 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.

Allowance dollar values are indexed automatically each financial year.

The on-call allowance, telephone allowance and the award's other minor allowances are not calculated — see What Astalty covers under this award.

Scheduling alerts

Astalty raises alerts while you roster, before the hours reach payroll:

• Minimum engagement — 2 hours, casual employees only
• Minimum 10-hour break between shifts
• Maximum shift length of 10 hours
• Insufficient days off — two full days per week, or four per fortnight, for permanent employees

See Scheduling Award Alerts for how alert behaviour is configured.

Where you see the interpretation

• Award Interpretation tab on a timesheet batch — the per-worker breakdown for the shifts in that batch.
• Award Pay Report — the same breakdown across a full pay period.
• Award Playground (under Scheduling → Award Playground) — experiment with hypothetical work records. Select a worker whose contract is on the Nurses Award and the playground interprets under the Nurses rules. Sleepover scenarios don't apply — this award has no sleepover provisions, so sleepover templates are hidden.
• Timesheet exports and the Xero timesheet push — pay lines and allowances flow to payroll per worker, under each worker's award.

Each worker's expanded view includes the interpretation trace showing which Nurses Award rules were applied — which cap was reached, which overtime band was used, 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. Nurses Award staff therefore need their own pay group, with pay items set up for the Nurses rates.

Whilst we cannot provide payroll advice based on your interpretation and application of the Nurses Award 2020, these are the Pay Items and their suggested multipliers when setting up Xero pay items for a Nurses Award pay group. You should refer to the Award, or seek professional and qualified advice, to ensure accuracy and compliance for your organisation.

For the mapping workflow itself, see Setup Pay Items and Employee Templates in Xero and Setup Pay Groups and Employees in Astalty.

Frequently asked questions

Why didn't overtime apply for my part-time nurse who worked beyond their contracted hours?

Under the Nurses Award, overtime for a part-time employee starts only once they work beyond full-time hours — more than 10 ordinary hours in a shift, or more than 38 hours in a week (76 in a fortnight) — not when they pass their own contracted hours. Hours between their contracted hours and full-time hours are paid at ordinary rates.

Why is a Registered Nurse level 4/5 not receiving penalties or overtime?

That is the Award working as intended: Registered Nurses at levels 4 and 5 are exempt from shift loadings, overtime and allowances, so their hours are paid at the ordinary rate. If a senior nurse should be receiving penalties, check their classification on the contract.

When does a meal allowance apply?

The same way as SCHADS, using the same setting: when automatic meal allowances are turned on (Settings → Scheduling → Meal Allowance), a Nurses Award worker receives one meal allowance once a shift's overtime exceeds one hour, and a second once it exceeds four hours. The second allowance has its own Meal Allowance (Second) Xero pay item. It is off by default.

Can I put an aged-care nurse on the Nurses Award?

Yes — that is where they belong. Choose a classification prefixed Aged care — on their contract and they are costed at the higher aged-care rates. See Aged-care nurses.

Shouldn't an aged-care nurse go on the Aged Care Award instead?

No. The Aged Care Award covers only the classifications in its own rates clause, and Registered and Enrolled Nurses are not among them — the Nurses Award follows the nurse into any workplace, including a residential aged care facility or a client's home. Put your aged-care nursing staff on a Nurses Award contract with an Aged care — classification, and your aged-care personal care and support staff on the Aged Care Award.

How do I tell Astalty a nurse works in aged care?

There is no separate switch — it is part of the classification you pick. Selecting an Aged care — classification is how you record it, which means a nurse can never end up flagged as aged care while being paid general rates.

Why can't I find an aged-care Nursing Assistant classification?

Because the Award no longer has one. Nursing Assistants providing care to aged persons moved out of the Nurses Award — in a residential facility they are covered by the Aged Care Award, and in a client's home by SCHADS. The Nurses Award Nursing Assistant classifications remain for non-aged-care settings such as hospitals.

Who updates pay rates after the Annual Wage Review?

You do, in your payroll system — the same as for SCHADS. Astalty indexes the allowances it calculates and the classification base rates it suggests, but the pay rates on your Xero pay items are maintained by you.

Can Astalty tell me if my roster complies with the Nurses 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 or seek qualified advice.

What Astalty covers under this award

Conclusion

The Nurses Award interpreter covers the core monetary rules around ordinary hours, overtime, shift loadings, casual loading and the meal, laundry and kilometre allowances, across both the general and aged-care minimum rate tables, with the same transparency (rule traces, playground, pay report) as the other awards. Provisions outside the engine — on-call and recall, TOIL, higher duties and leave rules — must be managed through correct rostering or manual controls.