A 24 hour care shift is a shift where a home care employee is required to be available for duty in a client’s home for a 24 hour period. It's different to a sleepover.

Employees will work and sleep at the client’s home during the shift.

There are different rules applying to 24 hour care shifts from 1 July 2022.

After 1 July 2022

From 1 July 2022, employers are only able to roster employees to work a 24 hour care shift by agreement.

Payment

Employees are paid for 8 hours’ work at 155% of their minimum hourly rate during a 24 hour care shift. Casual employees also get their casual loading.

If an employee works for more than 8 hours during the shift, they get paid overtime. The overtime rates are the following percentages of the minimum hourly rate:

• first 2 hours – 150%
• after 2 hours – 200%
• Sundays – 200%
• public holidays – 250%.

Casual employees also get their casual loading. To calculate the overtime rates, use our Pay and Conditions Tool.

Employees are able to refuse to work more than 8 hours during a 24 hour care shift if the requirement to work the additional hours is unreasonable.

Accommodation

Employees will be given the opportunity to sleep for a continuous period of 8 hours during a 24 hour care shift.

Employees are provided with free board and lodging for every night they sleep over, including:

• a separate room with a bed and clean linen
• the use of facilities, including access to food preparation facilities and staff facilities where they exist.

Before 1 July 2022

Payment

For each 24 hour care shift, home care employees got paid for 8 hours’ work at 155% of their minimum hourly rate.

Casual employees also got their 25% casual loading. This was calculated on their minimum hourly rate.

Overtime rates didn't apply when an employee worked for more than 8 hours.

Accommodation

Employees normally had the opportunity to sleep during a 24 hour care shift.

Where appropriate, a bed in a private room was provided for the employee.