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Children's Services Award 2010 (MA000120)

Loren Mathewson
Updated
EH Content Team

The article provides guidelines about when to use the different work types and tags that are included as part of the pre-built Children's Services award packages. For further information about the children's services award, refer to Children Services Award.

Key updates

  Select the current financial year tab to see award updates for the 2026/27 financial year, while all previous updates before this time you can find in the historical financial years tab.

Current financial yearHistorical financial years
July 2026

1st

We have updated the award to reflect the Fair Work Commission's National Minimum Wage increase detailed in the Annual Wage Review 2026 decision, and also includes updates to expense-related allowances. You can find more information on the Determinations here and here.

These changes come into effect from the first full pay period on or after the 1st July 2026. Please install these updates after you have finalised your last pay run before the first full pay period beginning on or after the 1st July 2026.

Installing the pre-built award package

To read details on how to install and configure this Pre-built Award Template, please review the following article. Before relying on the award information, users should carefully evaluate its accuracy, currency, completeness, and relevance for their purposes. You should also obtain appropriate professional advice.

Work types

The following lists out and explains the work types an employee can select on their timesheet.

A - F
8hr break between shifts. Choose this work type when, by agreement between an employer and an employee, the break between shifts is between eight and ten hours (rather than the usual minimum of ten hours). Refer to section 22.3(c) of the Children's Services Award.
10 hr shift (approved by employee). Choose this work type when, by agreement between an employer and a full time employee, the employee is rostered for up to 10 hours (rather than the usual eight hours). Refer section 21.2 of the Children's Services Award.
Annual leave. Choose this work type when annual leave is taken.
Compassionate leave. Choose this work type when compassionate leave is taken.
Excess fares allowance. Choose this work type where an employee is directed to work away from their normal place of work on any day and you did not provide free transport. Refer section 15.3 of the Children's Services Award.
Educational leader allowance. Choose this work type when an employee is required to discharge the responsibilities of the educational leader under Regulation 118 of the National Regulations. It only applies to teachers in the children’s services and early childhood education industry.
First aid allowance. Choose this work type if the employee is classified below level three with the employer required appropriate first aid qualifications to administer first aid to children within the employee's care. Refer section 15.4 of the Children's Services Award.
First aid allowance (out of school hours care). Choose this work type if you classify the employee below level three with appropriate first aid qualifications. Also choose this if you require them as the employer to administer first aid to children within the employee's care, and you employed the employee in out of school hours care. Refer to section 15.4 of the Children's Services Award.
G - L
Long service leave. Choose this work type when long service leave is taken.
M - R
No meal break. Normally, we would automatically add meal breaks for shifts over 5h 30m. Use this work type to indicate that no meal break was taken during the shift.
No Minimum Shift Engagement Choose this work type when minimum shift engagement should not apply.
Non-term time. Choose this work type for shifts during non-term time so that the term-time employee continues to accrue leave.
Overtime. Choose this work type for any work that you classify as overtime. Refer to section 23.1 of the Children's Services Award for information about overtime entitlement.
Overtime meal allowance. An employee was required to work more than two hours of overtime and you did not notify them on the previous day or earlier, and you did not supply a meal as the employer. In these cases you should add one unit of this allowance. Refer to section 15.5 of the Children's Services Award.
Personal/carer's leave. Choose this work type when personal/carer's leave is taken.
Public holiday not worked. An employee should choose this work type where you do not require them to work on a shift falling on a gazetted public holiday that the employee would have otherwise worked had it not been a public holiday.
S - Z
Rostered day off PH (AL). A full time employee should choose this work type if their rostered day off falls on a public holiday and they wish to accrue an additional day of annual leave. Refer to section 27.3 (a) (iii) of the Children's Services Award.
Rostered day off PH (TIL). A full time employee should choose this work type if their rostered day off falls on a public holiday and they wish to accrue time in lieu and take said leave within the next 28 days. Refer to section 27.3 (a) (ii) of the Children's Services Award.
Rostered day off PH. An employee should choose this work type if their rostered day off falls on a public holiday and you have paid an extra day's pay. Refer to section 27.3 (a) (i) of the Children's Services Award.
Time in lieu taken. Choose this work type when time in lieu is taken.
Time in lieu of overtime. Choose this work type if the employee elects to accrue time in lieu rather than pay for any overtime for this shift.
Unpaid leave. Choose this work type when unpaid leave is taken.
Vehicle allowance - car. Where an employer requests an employee to use their own motor car in the performance of their duties, you ‌should use this work type. You should enter the number of kilometres in the units field. Refer to section 15.7 of the Children's Services Award.
Vehicle allowance - motorcycle. Where an employer requests an employee to use their own motorcycle in the performance of their duties, you should use this work type. You should enter the number of kilometres in the units field. Refer to section 15.7 of the Children's Services Award.
Work During Meal Break. Choose this work type when a meal break is interrupted. It should be applied from the time the interruption starts until an uninterrupted break is taken. This entry must be recorded separately from the working hours preceding the meal break.

Shift conditions

Shift Conditions are further details you can add to a shift where more than one condition applies to your shift. Shift conditions are selected when you edit a timesheet record, or when clocking on using the ClockMeIn Time and Attendance or Swag apps. The following is a list of Shift Conditions employees can select on their timesheet, and the meaning of each item.

A - F
10 hr shift (approved by employee) Select this shift condition when, by agreement between an employer and a full time employee, the employee is rostered for up to 10 hours (rather than the usual eight hours). Refer section 21.2 of the Children's Services Award.
M - R
No Minimum Shift Engagement Select this shift condition when minimum shift engagement should not apply.
S - Z
Work During Meal Break Select this shift condition when a meal break is interrupted. It should be applied from the time the interruption starts until an uninterrupted break is taken. This entry must be recorded separately from the working hours preceding the meal break.

Tags

The following tags are available to employees under the award.

A - F
7 day shift worker. Assign this tag if you employeed the employee as a shift worker and who you regularly roster to work on Sundays and public holidays. Refer to section 24.2 of the Children's Services Award for the definition of a shift worker.
First aid officer. Assign this tag if you allocate the employee as a first aid officer for all shifts worked.
First aid officer (out of school hours care). Assign this tag if the employee is allocated as a first aid officer for all shifts worked and the employee is employed in out-of-school hours care.
Educational leader allowance. Assign this tag when an employee is required to discharge the responsibilities of the educational leader under Regulation 118 of the National Regulations. It only applies to teachers in the children’s services and early childhood education industry.
G - L
Leading hand A. Assign this tag to an employee, classified as Level 4A or below, who is permanently in charge of 1 to 5 employees. You will then not be required to use the associated work type.
M - R
Permanent night shift worker. Assign this tag if you rostered the employee on a non-rotating night shift. Refer to section 23.3 (d) (iv) of the Children's Services Award.
S - Z
Term-time employee. Assign this tag if the employee is a term-time employee. It means you will pay for public holidays not worked at the ordinary rate of pay.
TIL of OT. Assign this tag if the employee elects to always accrue time in lieu rather than be paid overtime.
Uniform. Assign this tag if the employee is required to launder any special clothing or articles of clothing and the uniform requires ironing.

Special notes

Time in Lieu Explanation

Time off instead of payment for overtime leave accrues at the same rate as the number of overtime hours worked. For example, an employee who worked two overtime hours has an entitlement to two hours’ time off. If you do take time off for overtime and the time off you intend, pay it out, you must pay at the overtime rate applicable to the overtime when worked

It also applies when you terminate an employee and you have to pay out the time. To pay it out correctly, you will need to record the overtime rate manually while you are processing the time in lieu accrual. We suggest that you record the overtime details in the Notes section of the leave accrual line in the pay run.

If you are required to pay out the time off for overtime either before termination or during termination, you can run a Pay Run Audit Report. It will show the pay runs for the employee where they accrued Time in Lieu, enabling yout to determine the applicable rates. Next, you can run an Employee Payment History Report to determine if they took any of the time off for overtime. You can then determine the correct balance based on the number of hours by taking the equivalent to the overtime payment that you made.

How to Enter Timesheets for Work During Meal Break

Scenario 1: An employee commences work at 7:00 am. Ten minutes after their scheduled break, they are called to perform work and are unable to take a break for the remainder of the shift.
Note: A new timesheet entry must be created at the commencement of the meal break interruption.

Result: The employee is paid at overtime rates from the start of the interruption until the end of the shift. The system also applies a top-up for any time in excess of 15 minutes, with payment calculated in minimum blocks of 15 minutes.

Screenshot 2025-08-11 at 7.18.37 am.png

Scenario 2: An employee is able to take a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break.
Note: A new timesheet entry must be created after the uninterrupted break.

Result: The employee is paid at their base rate after taking the uninterrupted meal break. However, due to the shift consolidation configuration, the entries are combined into a single shift, with rounding applied to the last entry of the shift. In this scenario, manual intervention is required to ensure correct top-up hours.

Screenshot 2025-08-11 at 7.37.20 am.png

Scenario 3: The employer and a full-time employee agree to roster the employee for up to 10 hours.
Note: The employee must also select the shift condition for ‘10 hr shift (approved by employee)’.

Result: Overtime applies only after 10 hours of work.

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