8 Conditions Commonly Missed in the Aged Care Award (MA000018)

The Aged Care Award (MA000119) sets out the pay rates, allowances, hours of work, and other entitlements for employers and employees in the aged care industry who fall under its classifications.

While you can review the Aged Care Award on the Fair Work website, the document is often filled with complex legal terms that make it difficult to determine whether your business is meeting all compliance requirements.

With the Fair Work Commission increasing its focus on payroll compliance — and ongoing media coverage of businesses found guilty of wage theft — it’s more important than ever for aged care providers to fully understand their obligations under the Award, including pay rates and employment conditions.

For example, in 2020, Uniting aged care facilities were found to have failed to pay a range of minimum entitlements under the Aged Care Award.

To make compliance easier, we’ve created an updated July 2025 edition of our Aged Care Award eBook, which explains the Award in plain language and includes a payroll processing checklist so you can ensure you’re meeting every requirement.

This article highlights eight commonly missed conditions in the Aged Care Award to help you avoid errors, improve compliance, and protect your business from costly mistakes.

Generally, a leading hand is an employee who is placed in charge of two or more employees. 

A leading hand is paid a weekly allowance according to how many employees they supervise: 

• 2-5 employees; 
• 6-10 employees; 
• 11-15 employees; and 
• 16 or more employees. 

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Accrued days off only applies to full-time employees.

Example: 

Marshall is a full-time employee at a local aged care home. His typical working hours 38 hours a week, so on average he should be working 7.6 hours per day.

However, more often than not, Marshal actually works around 8 hours per day. So, he accumulates an additional 0.4 hours (or 24 minutes) for each day.

Over a standard month, by working 19 days with an extra 24 minutes, Marshall has accumulated 7.6 hours.

As per his agreement with his employer, Marshall can take one accrued day off per month.

The employee can accumulate the days over more than one month; however, the accrued days off must be taken within 12 months.

If the contract is terminated for whatever reason, accumulated accrued days off must be paid to the employee at their ordinary rate. 

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• at any time, if the employer and employee agree, or
• if the employer gives the employee 7 days’ notice.

Employers need to record these agreements in writing. The record can be digital, for example, an email or text message.

In cases of emergency out of the employer’s control, they are allowed to disregard the requirement to provide 7 days’ notice of the change. 

For example, an emergency situation could be one that requires the aged care premises to be locked-down such as in the case of COVID-19.

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A sleepover means sleeping in at night to be on call for emergencies.

According to the Aged Care Award, the following conditions will apply to each night of sleepover:

• the sleepover hours must range between 8 and 10 hours, but not more; 
• employees must be given free board and lodging for each night that they have to sleepover; including a separate room with a bed and an additional sleepover allowance;
• employees must have access to the necessary staff facilities; 
• only emergency work should be performed during a sleepover;
• any non-emergency work that the employee does must be compensated with the relevant overtime rate;
• full-time employees must be paid overtime rates; while part-time and casual employees are paid at their ordinary rate plus the appropriate shift and weekend penalties;
• if the employee can’t take their 8-hour break between shifts due to high volumes of work, they must be paid double the regular rate until they can take their 8-hour break; 
• casual employees should only be used for sleepovers when full-time employees or permanent part-time employees are not available for that duty; and 
• no employee will be required to sleepover during any part of their rostered days off. 

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Where an employee regularly has to prepare to be called back, they will be paid for a minimum of 3 hours’ work at the correct rate above. 

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• delay the start time of their next rostered working day to allow a 10 hours break; or 
• pay the employee at 200% of the minimum hourly rate until the employee has a break of at least 10 hours. 

Example: 

As a result of helping an elderly lady who needed more specialised care, Melanie landed up staying at the aged care facility until 11:30 pm treating her and preparing her for bed. 

She worked a total of 7.5 hours overtime and because she had to be back by 8.00 am to continue the specialised care, she didn’t have the required 10 hours off. 

As a result, her employer was required to pay her overtime rates and 200% of his minimum hourly rate until she could have her next 10-hour break. 

Her duties were taken over by another specialised care employee at 4.00 pm, so Melanie could take a much-needed break until her 8.00 am start time the following day. 

This means that she was paid 200% of his minimum hourly rate from 8.00 am - 4.00 pm. 

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• 2 hours or less in any higher classified duties will be paid at a higher rate for the time worked at the higher level; and 
• more than 2 hours in any higher classified duties will be paid at a higher rate for the full day or shift worked at the higher level.

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The Aged Care Award (MA000018) is filled with detailed clauses that can be difficult to interpret without experience. Even with this article and the Fair Work guidance, many providers still struggle to keep up with rule changes, apply the correct rates, and ensure every condition is met.

If you want to reduce the risk of payroll errors and wage compliance breaches, start by exploring our Aged Care Award eBook [Updated July 2025], which explains the Award in plain language and includes a payroll processing checklist. This is a quick way to make sure you’re covering the most common problem areas.

You can also learn more about how Pay Cat helps aged care providers stay compliant with built-in award interpretation, automated penalty calculations, and accurate leave management — all within Employment Hero Payroll.

When you’re ready to see how automation can work in your business, you can book a demo with our team for a walkthrough of our Aged Care Award compliance setup.

The Aged Care Award (MA000018) is filled with detailed clauses that can be difficult to interpret without experience. Even with this article and the Fair Work guidance, many providers still struggle to keep up with rule changes, apply the correct rates, and ensure every condition is met.

1. Download the Aged Care Award eBook
   [Updated July 2025] – plain-language explanations plus a payroll checklist.

2. Watch the free webinar replay: How to Troubleshoot Pay Runs – learn how to resolve common errors that cause delays and compliance issues (a challenge many aged care providers face).

3. See Pay Cat in Action – book a demo with our team and get a walkthrough of our Aged Care Award compliance setup in Employment Hero Payroll.

Who is Pay Cat?

Pay Cat are payroll specialists dedicated to helping Australian businesses simplify payroll and ensure 100% compliance with modern awards. As Employment Hero Payroll experts, we configure payroll systems to automate award interpretation, apply the correct pay rates and allowances, and eliminate manual calculations.

For aged care providers, our pre-built Aged Care Award (MA000018) compliance template ensures accurate shift penalties, overtime, and leave calculations every pay run, saving time, reducing errors, and keeping your business fully compliant.