The SCHADS Award can be incredibly complex, but this software helps any business operating under the SCHADS Award pay staff accurately and automatically. What’s particularly impressive is that it has been built specifically for complicated awards like SCHADS, where manual payroll processing often leads to mistakes.
Let me show you how it works. If you have a night shift followed by a sleepover shift and then additional night shifts, the system automatically applies the minimum four-hour shift requirement to the correct shift.
The software is also smart enough to detect when an employee has not received an eight-hour break between shifts. In these cases, penalty rates are applied automatically, without any manual intervention.
If the break is adjusted to eight hours, the system instantly recalculates the pay, reverting the shift back to normal rates instead of penalties.
Here’s an even more complex example. A sleepover shift starts on a Friday and continues into Saturday. All Saturday hours automatically attract the correct penalty rates, and all sleepover shift rules are applied correctly.
There is no need to manually calculate overlapping days, penalty thresholds or sleepover conditions. The system handles everything in line with the SCHADS Award.
My favourite feature appears when it’s time to finalise your pay runs. Every payroll calculation is directly linked to the relevant clause of the Fair Work SCHADS Award.
If a staff member, auditor or Fair Work inspector ever asks how a pay amount was calculated, you can immediately show the exact award clause that supports it. This level of transparency makes compliance far easier to demonstrate.
This tool is called Pay Cat. It’s a payroll system designed to help businesses process pay runs seamlessly while remaining fully compliant with the SCHADS Award. It’s already used by many organisations that need confidence, accuracy and audit-ready payroll reporting.
Click below for a demo and see how it can work for your business.
The SCHADS Award includes multiple penalty rates, minimum engagement rules, sleepover provisions and mandatory break requirements, all of which interact across different days and shift types.
The system automatically identifies when minimum four-hour shift rules apply and allocates them to the correct shift without manual calculations.
Yes. If an employee does not receive the required eight-hour break, the system automatically applies the correct penalty rates.
Sleepover rules are applied automatically, including correct rates when shifts cross into weekends or public holidays.
Each payroll calculation is linked directly to the relevant SCHADS Award clause, allowing you to clearly demonstrate how pay was calculated.
Any organisation operating under the SCHADS Award, including disability, aged care, community and social services providers, can benefit from automated award compliance.
If you want to see how Pay Cat automates SCHADS Award compliance, including allowances, penalties, and shift conditions, you can learn more here:
https://www.paycat.com.au/schads