Cancellation terms

When you hold a date for one clinic, you turn down work from another. If that clinic then cancels the day before, you are left with an empty diary and no income. Cancellation terms set out how much notice a workplace must give, and what fee the parties have agreed to consider if they cancel inside that window.

Sessional lets you save a default for the manual logging form and record terms for a booking. For eligible self-invoiced shifts, you can create a cancellation fee invoice or record a waiver.

Cancellation terms in Sessional are wording stored with a booking. The built-in sliding-scale template is a product option, not an Australian legal rule or a statement of industry custom:

• 28 or more days' notice: no fee
• 7 to less than 28 days' notice: 50% of the agreed rate
• under 7 days' notice: 100% of the agreed rate

The wording is yours to set. You can use a single cut-off (for example, full fee inside 48 hours) or a graduated scale, whatever you have agreed with the workplace.

The manual logging form offers these templates based on your profile profession. Review the wording with the workplace before using it:

• GP and specialist: a 28 and 7 day sliding scale
• Pharmacist: three working days, counted as Monday to Friday. Public holidays are not excluded.
• Nurse, paramedic, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, and psychologist: 24 hours
• Dentist: seven days

The matching option starts with Standard and is marked recommended. You can choose another template, write custom terms, or select No cancellation fee.

Set your default cancellation terms in your profile. The manual shift form uses this saved default, or a profession template if no default is saved. Check the terms before logging the shift. A workplace request may contain its own wording.

You can enter different terms in the manual logging form for an individual booking. This leaves your profile default untouched. Terms saved with a booking request are also used when preparing its booking confirmation.

Use the cancel action on an offered or confirmed shift to record the cancellation. Sessional releases matching booked availability slots and attempts to email the workplace when a valid contact email is stored. Review other bookings on that date before offering the time again.

Compare the actual cancellation notice with the recorded terms. The calculator measures notice from the time cancellation is recorded in Sessional, so a cancellation entered later than the workplace's message can produce a different fee.

On Invoices, cancelled shifts without an invoice or a recorded waiver appear with fee actions. Invoice creation requires a self-invoiced income source and the necessary billing figures. The fee uses the shift value and recognised cancellation wording. The invoice action asks you to confirm before creating the invoice.

If you decide not to pursue a fee, use Waive fee on the Invoices page and confirm the action. Sessional records the waiver and removes that shift from the cancellation-fee list. The invoice creation route also checks the saved waiver. Repeating a saved waiver does not create another charge. A waiver does not void an invoice that has already been created.