Second Job

Duckfeet84

Hi all.
I have recently returned to work after finishing maternity leave. I decided to only go back 16 hours a week so I could spend more time with the kiddies (one is 6, one is 7 months). However we seem to be getting ourselves into a bit of debt so I need to earn more money before it gets serious. My current wage is only £6.55 ph, and I have to drive over ten miles each way, so it didn't really seem worth taking on more hours at that job as it would mostly be cancelled out by fuel costs and childcare.
I have managed to find an evening job in my village so I don't have to travel, and hubby will be home for the kids, hours will vary between 8-16 hours per week. I start this week.
I would like to work both jobs, but my question is will I get heavily taxed for having a second job? Even though I don't work full time at either places? I only claim standard child allowance, no other benefits.
And should I let my original employer know I have a second job? It won't affect them in any way, but Im worried they may think I don't need them anymore and find a way to cut me out (if you know what I mean).
Thanks in advance

LittleVoice

Duckfeet84 wrote: »

Hi all.
I have recently returned to work after finishing maternity leave. I decided to only go back 16 hours a week so I could spend more time with the kiddies (one is 6, one is 7 months). However we seem to be getting ourselves into a bit of debt so I need to earn more money before it gets serious. My current wage is only £6.55 ph, and I have to drive over ten miles each way, so it didn't really seem worth taking on more hours at that job as it would mostly be cancelled out by fuel costs and childcare.
I have managed to find an evening job in my village so I don't have to travel, and hubby will be home for the kids, hours will vary between 8-16 hours per week. I start this week.
I would like to work both jobs, but my question is will I get heavily taxed for having a second job? Even though I don't work full time at either places? I only claim standard child allowance, no other benefits.
And should I let my original employer know I have a second job? It won't affect them in any way, but Im worried they may think I don't need them anymore and find a way to cut me out (if you know what I mean).
Thanks in advance

So in your current job you do not earn enough to be paying NI nor (unless you have a non-standard tax code for some historical reason) are you paying Income Tax.

Your contract with your first employer may require that you seek their agreement to working elsewhere. Their agreement should not be unreasonably withheld.

If your second job paid no more than the first, then you would not pay NI (though the two amounts combined in the same employment would be over the NI threshold each is considered separately for NI). However in order to take advantage of your full tax allowance during the tax year (rather than waiting for a rebate from HMRC later), you need to have your tax code split between the two employers. You can ask HMRC to do this. This might in any event alert the first employer to the fact that you could have another job - but there are other reasons for having a changed tax code.

You won't pay more tax by working in two jobs than if you earned the same amount in just one.

Duckfeet84

Thanks for the advice, Littlevoice.

thegirlintheattic

Check your contract - some employers require you to notify them of a second job.

Some occupations have quite heavy restrictions due to H&S.