Not everyone who works a shift is an employee. Contractors are paid at agreed rates by day type, not by SCHADS classification and loadings, and forcing them through an employee payroll produces figures that are wrong for both parties.
Contractor payments — how it works
A worker marked as a contractor is paid from their own rate card — weekday, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday — rather than through award interpretation. What the client is charged is unaffected: billing still resolves from the price book, so contractor engagement changes your cost, not your revenue.
Superannuation is applied only where it is due. Under the extended definition of employee for superannuation purposes, many contractors working principally for their labour attract super, and that is a per-contractor setting rather than an assumption in either direction.
Why it matters for NDIS providers
Providers use contractors to cover gaps, specialist work and regional shifts. Paying them through an award engine produces incorrect amounts and obscures the real margin on the work, which is usually why the contractor was engaged in the first place.
- Their rates, not the award: flat day-type rates rather than SCHADS classifications and loadings.
- Revenue is unchanged: the client is still charged from the price book.
- Super handled deliberately: applied per contractor where it is due, not assumed either way.
What's included
- Contractor rate cards. Weekday, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday rates per contractor.
- Separate pay engine. Contractor pay calculated outside award interpretation.
- Unchanged client billing. Charges still resolve from the price book.
- Per-contractor superannuation. Applied where the extended definition makes it payable.
- Margin visibility. Contractor cost against client charge, visible in reporting.
Who it's for
Providers who engage contractors for coverage, specialist supports or regional work, and finance teams who need contractor cost separated from employee cost when looking at margin. It also helps at audit, where the basis for each worker’s pay should be evident from their record.
Getting started
Contractor Payments is included in your Rostery plan and works the moment your data is in — there is no separate module to buy or set up. Book a demo and we will show it on your own workflows, and use Rostery's “Smart Switch” data migration to bring your existing clients, staff, shifts and notes across from your current software in minutes.
Terms used on this page
Related capabilities
Source
The rules this feature works to are set by Fair Work Ombudsman — SCHADS Award summary, which is the authority on them and is updated more often than any page here.