Worker payroll

SCHADS classification, agreed rates, custom hourly bands and when saved changes take effect.

Last updated · 10 November 2026

The Payroll tab sets a support worker’s SCHADS classification, agreed hourly rate and individual pay bands. It appears when Payroll is enabled. Editing needs Workers edit access. Open it from the worker profile.

Set the classification

Complete SCHADS stream, Employment type, Classification level, Pay point and Work state. The supported streams are Social and Community Services (SACS), Home Care: Disability and Home Care: Aged Care. Choose the classification for the worker’s duties.

Under Employment & pay, choose SCHADS worker category: Day worker or Shift worker. This affects ordinary hours, loadings and overtime. Agreed weekly hours is required for part-time workers, with a maximum of 38. Work state determines the award timezone and relevant public holidays.

Set the agreed rate and individual bands

Agreed hourly rate pre-fills from the matching published award rate. Leave it at that amount, or clear it, to follow the award rate. A higher agreed rate scales the calculated penalty and overtime minimums. A below-minimum rate is rejected.

In SCHADS rate preview, the Pay column lets you enter a higher hourly amount for an individual band. Clear an override to follow its calculated minimum. Public holiday overtime is a separate band. The preview shows only the bands relevant to the current classification; changing classification can expose a saved override that must be cleared or corrected before saving.

A custom band amount must meet its displayed minimum. Review saved custom amounts when award rates change; a higher new minimum can require a correction before payroll can proceed.

Save payroll

Select Save payroll. Success reads Payroll settings saved. Fix any field error before retrying. Loading failures, missing settings and invalid pay-band amounts keep saving unavailable.

Saved changes start at the first open payroll week from the current Sydney week. If that week is finalised, the change starts at the next open week. The app chooses this week automatically; there is no effective-date field to fill in. Earlier dated settings and finalised pay records remain intact. Refresh an editor that reports a newer saved version before trying again.

1Choose the award stream for this worker.
2Employment type affects the applicable pay settings.
3Use the assessed classification level.
4Select the actual pay point within the level.
5The work state determines the holiday context.
Saved payroll classification for Jordan: Home Care Disability, Casual, Level 2, Pay point 1, New South Wales.

1Ordinary hourly pay is separate from penalty bands.
2Review the weekend band independently.
3Check the band applicable to the work rather than copying one rate into every field.
Saved SCHADS rate preview for Jordan shows the ordinary hourly rate and distinct weekend, public holiday, afternoon and night bands.

Worker travel pay

Set Worker travel pay > Provider travel time on Details, beside the travel defaults. It is available even with Payroll switched off. The Payroll preview shows the current travel-pay setting, but does not edit it. Changing current travel defaults does not rewrite earlier trip records or finalised payroll.

Employment contract

Under Employment contract, select Browse to stage a PDF, JPG, PNG, DOC or DOCX file. It uploads after Save payroll saves the pay settings. Success reads Employment contract uploaded. An upload failure leaves the saved pay settings in place, so retry the attachment rather than assuming the whole save failed.

Once attached, the contract has a download link and a delete button. To replace it, delete the old attachment and add the new one.

Note

An unclassified worker shows UNCLASSIFIED and a dash for gross pay in the weekly grid. Set the classification before finalising and review the resulting breakdown. Pay settings help prepare the calculation; check that the result matches the worker’s arrangements and the requirements that apply.

For multiple workers, Bulk import workers can populate the supported classification fields. Review individual pay-band overrides on this tab. For Xero, prepare matching pay items and a draft pay run before exporting frozen hours, rates and allowances.

First-use check and payroll history

Open Workforce > Workers, select the support worker and choose Payroll. Confirm the correct person before changing their classification.
Set the classification and Employment & pay fields for their actual arrangements. Wait for SCHADS rate preview to finish loading and compare its ordinary, penalty and overtime bands.
Save with Save payroll, then inspect an open week in Workforce > Payroll to verify the resulting categories and amounts.
If the week you intended to correct is older than the automatically chosen effective week, inspect its dated settings and frozen state before proceeding. Changing the current profile does not rewrite older settings or paid history.

The payroll editor uses saved revisions. A newer office save requires refreshing and reviewing the current version before retrying; do not re-enter an old open draft over it. Dated settings apply from the automatically selected first open week from the current Sydney week, while finalised weeks retain their immutable pay record.

Payroll feature access is separate from a shift’s financial choices captured at first actual clock-in. Enabling Payroll later does not automatically admit a shift that started without payroll. Worker travel-pay defaults on Details are also separate from these dated classification/rate settings.

Compare a classification and a pay override

For example, Jordan’s fictional record uses Home Care: Disability, Casual, Level 2, Pay point 1, New South Wales and Shift worker. These choices describe separate parts of the worker’s arrangements; copying another worker’s hourly amount is not a way to set the classification. Wait for the matching preview and check its displayed rate date.

Use Agreed hourly rate for a higher agreed base across the calculated bands. Use a particular row’s Pay input only when that individual band has a higher agreed amount. Clearing that row’s override returns it to its calculated minimum; entering below the displayed minimum prevents saving. After Payroll settings saved., reopen the worker’s open-week breakdown to check the effective result. A saved current setting does not change an already finalised week or replace the separately saved travel-pay default.