Browse help topics
Cancel a shift
Cancel with the right party and reason, see the charge, and restore if needed.
Last updated · 10 November 2026
When a shift will not go ahead, use its cancellation workflow to keep the record and assess any eligible charge. You need Scheduling edit access. Check the party, notice, agreement terms and attestation before confirming.
For example, if Mavis cancels tomorrow’s visit, open that visit’s reference and date, choose Participant, record when she actually gave notice, select the truthful reason and assess the preview. Choosing No, waive records the cancellation without a cancellation fee. If your organisation cancels because no worker is available, choose Provider; do not label it a participant cancellation to make it chargeable.
Open the cancel form
Open the shift and select Cancel shift at the bottom of the Edit Shift drawer. The action is available only while the shift is eligible for cancellation. Selecting it opens the Cancel shift drawer.
Note
On a group shift, the drawer opens with a Participants to cancel picker beside Who
cancelled?, letting you choose which participants to cancel. Leave everyone selected to
cancel the whole shift, or pick a subset to cancel just those participants while the shift
keeps running for the rest. The title changes to match: Cancel shift, Cancel
participants, or Cancel <name> for one.
Set the party, notice, and reason
Who cancelled? Select Participant (cancelled, no-showed or refused) or Provider (worker sick, transport, facility). This sets the reason list and whether a charge can apply.
When the participant cancelled, a Participant gave notice at field appears, initially showing now; change it if you are recording notice received earlier. If you leave it untouched, confirmation uses the time you confirm. If waiting changes the notice or charge outcome, check the refreshed preview before confirming again. It drives the notice breakdown below: a read-only Time until shift, Notice rule (7 days for disability-support-worker categories, 2 clear business days for other eligible supports, worked out from the support item) and Classification (Short notice, Sufficient notice, or Shift already started).
Reason for cancellation is required. Open its list after choosing the party, then select the reason that matches what occurred. Participant reasons are NDIS codes; provider reasons are internal and never chargeable. Use Notes for supporting context, such as how notice was received; Notes does not replace the required reason.
Enlarge screenshot
Swipe across the enlarged image to read each part of the screen.
Unsaved example: Participant, notice time and health reason are selected. Short notice is the app’s notice assessment, not a decision that charging is permitted.
Handle any charge, then confirm
When a charge could apply, an Apply short-notice charge? choice appears: Yes, charge or No, waive (PAPL lets you waive a claimable fee at your discretion). Where billing applies and its inputs have loaded, the Cancellation charge table previews the outcome, one row per participant (or per worker on an intensive shift), with Short-notice term (whether the agreement allows a charge) and the Charge amount or “No charge” with the reason.
A charge is only ever raised when all of these hold: the participant cancelled, it is short notice, the agreement includes the short-notice term, the support item itself permits a short-notice claim, the shift is not part of an NDIS program of support, and you tick the attestation below the table. When the form uses the combined attestation, it is labelled I confirm the short-notice charge conditions are met; read its description, including the group seat condition where applicable. When the separate worker-pay choice is shown, the charging checkbox reads No alternative billable work was available. Tick only a statement you can support; eligibility is not established by the preview amount.
Check the worker-pay choice separately from participant charging:
| Control | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Pay worker for the cancelled rostered time | Appears for eligible whole cancellations when payroll applies. Select only when that cancelled rostered time is to be paid; it is recorded separately from the participant fee. Leaving a fee waived does not decide worker pay. |
| Yes, charge | Requests an otherwise eligible participant cancellation charge, with the required attestations. It does not override missing agreement terms or other restrictions. |
| No, waive | Records no cancellation fee. Check the independent worker-pay choice if offered. |
| Notes | Optional factual context retained with the cancellation. |
Enlarge screenshot
Swipe across the enlarged image to read each part of the screen.
This agreement has no short-notice term, so the preview shows No charge. Worker pay is a separate unchecked choice. No cancellation has been confirmed.
A yellow Cancellation review box explains anything relevant before you confirm, for example that the shift already started, that provider-side cancellations are never claimable, that sufficient notice was given, or that a participant’s agreement has no short-notice term. Add optional Notes, then select Confirm.
Note
Either way the shift (or the cancelled participants) then shows as Cancelled. An otherwise eligible cancellation without the charging attestation records no charge. Missing required details or other cancellation restrictions can still stop confirmation.
Restore a cancelled shift
A cancelled shift shows a Restore shift button where Cancel shift used to be. Selecting it checks that the shift has not started and that none of its workers or participants are already booked on another overlapping shift; any conflict shows as a toast and the restore stops there. Confirming Restore this shift? then puts the shift back on the roster, re-activates its worker assignments, and removes any cancellation charge.
On a group shift, a cancelled participant instead shows a Cancelled chip in the Participants field with its own restore control. Restoring one checks the same start-time and booking conflicts, plus that the participant still has an active service agreement support for the shift’s date, then confirming Restore <name>? re-opens their seat and removes their cancellation charge.
Tip
A shift that has already started can no longer be restored, whole or per participant.
When work has already started
Whole-shift and assignment cancellation are blocked after care starts until the started worker has made their first successful final progress-note submission. Every started assignment must meet this requirement. A draft or pending save does not count. Returning the note later does not undo that first submission. Approved work remains protected from cancellation.
A whole-shift cancellation ends any eligible active care, participant clocks and travel at the office confirmation time. A backdated participant notice changes the notice assessment, not when active work ends. Original worker evidence remains on the record, and an office-ended record is not a worker-submitted note. Cancelling only some group participants does not end shared work for everyone else.
Review retained delivered work and travel on their evidence. Eligible travel and a cancellation fee may both need review; do not charge delivered care and a cancellation fee for the same participant’s same support. Billing decisions and worker pay review are separate.
Finalise an unworked no-show
After the scheduled finish, a published shift with no clock-in becomes No-show. Its ordinary editing and rescheduling stay locked. Open the parent shift in Scheduling and use Cancel shift when the unworked record is eligible. Choose the correct party and reason, check charge eligibility and any waiver, and confirm. Do not invent clock times to get it through review.
If there are clocks, approval or started provider travel, that unworked no-show route is not available. Check the recorded work instead. Copy and archive remain separate actions; copying can arrange a replacement without changing the original no-show.
Before cancellation and after confirmation
You need Scheduling edit access. Save the shift’s planned changes first, open the correct shift reference and date, and check which participants or assignments the action affects. Cancellation is separate from Archive: Archive hides eligible unused drafts and keeps cancelled work, recorded work and existing billing.
After confirming, reopen the shift and check its cancellation label, affected participants, retained worker evidence and the charge outcome. A cancelled worker or participant record remains part of the history. Fill any remaining uncovered group assignment separately. If the action fails because the record changed, reopen it and assess the latest clocks, notes and review state before trying again.
Check a partial group cancellation
If only Elliot cancels a shared outing, use Participants to cancel to select Elliot and leave Mavis out of that selection. Read the drawer title and participant charge rows before Confirm. Afterwards, reopen the shift: Elliot should have the cancellation outcome while Mavis’s remaining support and assignment can continue. Recheck attendance, retained delivered work and remaining staffing rather than assuming the whole group ended.