Working on My Days off

havenlad · PayPerShop Newbie Joined: 08 Apr 2008 Posts: 3

I work 4 on 4 off and have recently been contqcted by a company offering occasional work for my 4 days off. I contacted HR to make sure this was ok and would not complicate PAYE. They referred it to my department. My department said no as I may be needed on my days off. The company has been going for 15 years and nobody in my department has ever had to come into work on their days off. Is this insistence unfair? Is it illegal? It says in my contract that any work on my days off requires the written approval of the board. Is this clause illegal?

Thanks

Ian Congreave · Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:28 am Post subject: Working at a second job

I see that you have asked a similar question elsewhere on the Forum, but that looked more at the tax office involvement with a second job. Here you are asking about the legality of a contractual term.

There are probably other aspects of the situation that we would have to ask about to give a comprehensive answer to this question. The immediate response has to be that you took on your current job with a contract that requires you to seek your employer's permission to take a second job, so that is an indication to your current employer that you accepted that requirement. It may be, you have not stated, that the nature of your business is such that an urgent response outside of normal hours could be needed to maintain continuity, even though that has not happened before.

Your first step, therefore, should be to seek written approval for the second job, explaining what it entails and why you do not think it would interfere with your principal job. You might want to ask what assurances your employer needs in order for you to take a second job - for example, would your current employer have priority if there were a conflict between the jobs?

You could, of course, just do the second job and say nothing. However, as pointed out in your other posting, your current employer will likely find out through the tax procedures.

If you cannot get approval to take the second job, your other option is to inform your current employer that you believe the requirement is unreasonable and are going to ignore it. If you take the second job, what will your employer do? They would have to think very carefully about firing you because, at tribunal, they would have to justify the clause and, if there is no valid business reason for it, and in the absence of any payment for you being on call during your four days off, they may find that very difficult. And you need to think very carefully because, if they can justify the clause at tribunal, you have lost your job.

So, you need to take a deep breath before going in that direction. I suggest that you ask for written permission first, as required by your contract, and see where that takes you.
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