On-call arrangements are a practical necessity in many aged care and NDIS services. But on-call is also one of the most legally complex and operationally mismanaged areas of workforce management in the care sector.
Under the SCHADS Award, an employee who is required to remain on call outside their ordinary hours is entitled to an on-call allowance for each period of on-call. If the employee is actually called back to work during an on-call period, they are entitled to a minimum engagement period — generally a minimum number of paid hours — regardless of how short the actual intervention was. Travel time to and from the worksite for a recall is also payable.
The distinction between on-call (where the employee can be at home and is simply required to be contactable) and sleepover shifts (where the employee is required to remain at the work premises overnight) carries different entitlements under the Award.
On-call responsibilities should be distributed across a pool of eligible workers large enough that no individual is carrying an unreasonable frequency of on-call nights or weekends. Workers should have clarity in writing about what their on-call obligations entail: the response time expected, the types of situations they are expected to attend in person versus manage remotely, and the contact escalation process if the on-call worker cannot respond.
On-call arrangements generate payroll obligations that are distinct from rostered shifts. Each on-call period needs to be recorded including its start and end time. Any actual call-backs need to be recorded separately, including the time the worker was notified, the time they attended, the nature of the work performed, and the time they were released from duty. Integrating on-call records into your payroll system is the only reliable way to ensure consistent and accurate payment.
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