On 20 March 2026, the Full Court of the Federal Court handed down its decision in Fair Work Ombudsman v Jats Joint Pty Ltd [2026] FCAFC 25. The Full Court dismissed the FWO’s appeal against the primary decision, which found that under the provisions of the SCHADS Award sleepovers are separate and distinct periods of time that do not form part of a shift.

The Full Court confirmed:

• that penalties and loadings are calculated separately for periods of ordinary hours worked on either side of a sleepover, and
• that a sleepover can count as a break between rostered work periods.

The information under the heading ‘Before 1 June 2026’ in the body of this article reflects the outcomes of the Jats Joint decisions.

The decisions preferred a different interpretation of the sleepover provisions of the SCHADS Award to the interpretation in our previously published information.

If you need advice about the impacts of the Jats Joint decisions, please seek independent legal advice.

FWC proceedings

There are three applications with the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to vary the sleepover provisions in the SCHADS Award. On 13 April 2026, the FWC issued a decision and a determination changing some rules around sleepovers in the SCHADS Award from the start of the employee's first full pay period on or after 1 June 2026.

The FWC has indicated that there are ongoing proceedings about the rules that apply during a sleepover.

FWO monitors all FWC proceedings that may impact award terms. We update our information as required.

We encourage you to check back regularly for updates.

A sleepover is when an employee is required to sleep overnight at their client’s premises. It’s different to a 24 hour care shift. The span for a sleepover is a continuous period of 8 hours.

Employees must be rostered or paid for a minimum of 4 hours’ work before or after the sleepover period.

From 1 June 2026

Some rules around sleepovers in the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Award were changed from 1 June 2026.

Current information about sleepovers under the award is available at Hours of work in the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award.

Before 1 June 2026

This is how sleepovers worked before the award was changed.

Was a sleepover and work done before and/or after a sleepover considered one shift?

No. The sleepover and the hours worked or paid for before and/or after the sleepover were separate.

Example: Work before or after a sleepover

Andrea works in disability support services.

She is rostered to work 4pm to 11pm on a Wednesday with a sleepover from 11pm to 7am Thursday.

As the sleepover and the period of work are separate and not considered one shift, Andrea's shift starts at 4pm on Wednesday and finishes at 11pm on Wednesday.

Andrea's shift is an afternoon shift, because it finishes after 8pm and before midnight. She'll be paid the afternoon shift penalty rate for the hours worked on Wednesday.

For the sleepover, Andrea will be paid the sleepover allowance of 4.9% of the standard rate.

Was a sleepover a break?

Yes. A sleepover counted as a break between rostered work periods.

This meant that if employees worked both before and after the sleepover, the two periods of work were treated as separate shifts.

Did a sleepover count as ordinary hours of work?

No. Only work before and/or after the sleepover counted as ordinary hours of work.

Did shift penalty rates apply?

Shift penalty rates applied when a shift (not including the sleepover) met the definition of an afternoon, night or public holiday shift.

Employees were only paid shift penalty rates for the ordinary hours they worked before and/or after a sleepover.

Example: Sleepover and shift allowances

Orla worked from 5pm until 10pm Monday, did a sleepover from 10pm until 6am then worked from 6am to 9am on Tuesday.

An afternoon shift is a shift finishing after 8pm and at or before midnight Monday to Friday.

As Orla’s shift on Monday finished at 10pm, she got paid the 12.5% afternoon shift penalty rate for the hours worked from 5pm to 10pm on Monday.

Orla didn’t do any work during this sleepover. For the sleepover Orla got paid the sleepover allowance of 4.9% of the standard rate.

Orla got paid her ordinary hourly rate for the hours worked from 6am to 9am on Tuesday. No loadings or penalty rates applied for work during that period.