Is having 2 zero hour contract jobs feasible?
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LawrenceMPA
Posts: 13 Forumite
I was just wondering if it’s feasible to have 2 zero hour contract jobs. What exactly are my rights regarding this? I’m thinking in terms of flexibility etc. Also curious to know how it will work with tax and national insurance etc. I have one job in the pipeline that will be 9.30-1.30 Monday to Friday and another that is various shifts but I know they’ll need people in on the weekend but I don’t fancy working more than the 5 days I’ll be getting from the other job. Will I be able to refuse shifts? I’m pretty sure I read something about this. Thanks in advance
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LawrenceMPA wrote: »I was just wondering if it’s feasible to have 2 zero hour contract jobs. What exactly are my rights regarding this? I’m thinking in terms of flexibility etc. Also curious to know how it will work with tax and national insurance etc. I have one job in the pipeline that will be 9.30-1.30 Monday to Friday and another that is various shifts but I know they’ll need people in on the weekend but I don’t fancy working more than the 5 days I’ll be getting from the other job. Will I be able to refuse shifts? I’m pretty sure I read something about this. Thanks in advance
It's zero hours, you have the right to accept or refuse work.
Equally your 'employer' has the right to not offer any work.
- the tax will sort itself out eventually, depending on the wages you can split your tax code - BUT I wouldn't bother this close to April.0 -
One of the issues that many have with zero hour contracts and the reason that they get a lot of negative press is that some employers will give you a zero hours contract but prevent you from taking employment with anyone else. In other words, you can only work for that company but they do not guarantee you any work.
We have a number of staff here in a pick and pack operation that we operate that are on a zero hours contracts but they are offered a full working week pretty much all the time. In addition, we do not prevent them from working elsewhere if they choose. This is how zero hours arrangements should work - flexibility for both employer and employee.
Personally, I am not completely comfortable with zero hours contracts but in our case it works and everyone seems happy with the arrangement.
If you are happy to have multiple zero hours contracts and none of the employers restrict alternative employment then go ahead. Be aware though, that if the shifts you are offered by the respective employers do not fit well schedule-wise you might be forced into letting one employer or other down when being offered work. If this becomes a frequent thing you will find that you are offered less shifts or even no work from the company at all.0 -
Employers can no longer prevent you working elsewhere on a zero hours, even if they put clauses that try to prevent you working you can just ignore them.
What they can do is stop giving you work.
Probably best to do a bit of research on the companies to find out what they are like and what the policies for scheduling are.
eg
Do they just put you on a rota and expect you to work them(no longer strictly legal but not sure where the case law has gone yet)
DO they ask for availability and rota to that.
Do they ask what you want to do and offer at the same time.
etc.
Are they offering Zero hours and low estimated hours but the reality they want you working a lot more.
Often the clash can come when they both want you to give availability say the week before and then do their rota you may need to prioritise one employer first and hope you get something that fits from the other.
A good balance if you can find it is a job that gives you most of your work most of the time and does not get 24/7 demanding, then a top up job that you can be more selective about when you work but not dependant on them when they don't have any.1 -
You'll need to explain the situation and it's likely affect on your ability to take work to both employers. I'd take one job first, then address this at interview with the second job, and eventually (if offered the second job) with the original employer.
Basically, you can balance the two but you'll need to be transparent and work with both employers to make it work for them and you.
'Rights' basically mean nothing on a zero hours contract, they can just stop giving you work. Relationship is everything (as it pretty much always is with employment!)0 -
One of the issues that many have with zero hour contracts and the reason that they get a lot of negative press is that some employers will give you a zero hours contract but prevent you from taking employment with anyone else. In other words, you can only work for that company but they do not guarantee you any work.
We have a number of staff here in a pick and pack operation that we operate that are on a zero hours contracts but they are offered a full working week pretty much all the time. In addition, we do not prevent them from working elsewhere if they choose. This is how zero hours arrangements should work - flexibility for both employer and employee.
Personally, I am not completely comfortable with zero hours contracts but in our case it works and everyone seems happy with the arrangement.
If you are happy to have multiple zero hours contracts and none of the employers restrict alternative employment then go ahead. Be aware though, that if the shifts you are offered by the respective employers do not fit well schedule-wise you might be forced into letting one employer or other down when being offered work. If this becomes a frequent thing you will find that you are offered less shifts or even no work from the company at all.
That is no longer lawful. However, given that an employer is free not to offer any work to a zero hour employee is is not easy to police. Inevitably (and quite understandably) the employer is more likely to offer work to those who do the best job and show the most flexibility.
So, if your two zero hour contracts are most likely to want you during the same hours it may not be a good idea as you could end up upsetting both. If you do end up with that arrangement, I would strongly suggest you give priority to whichever employer is likely to be the most useful to you and only accept work from the other when you know it won't conflict with the main employer's requirements.0 -
I work on a zero hours contract and it works for me. The thing is if the second is primilary weekend shifts then if you keep turning it down then eventually they won’t offer you the shifts, esp if it’s zero hours for filling in for annual leave/ sickness/ shifts full timers can’t do:T:T :beer: :beer::beer::beer: to the lil one
:beer::beer::beer:0 -
I have 3 jobs - main one is an 18 hour contract with a 3 week rolling rota. It would be very difficult to fit another job with set hours around that so I have 2 other jobs with zero hours contracts. I do on average 15-20 hours with one of them and the other is just the odd shift. I have my tax code split between 2 jobs and the other one I pay basic rate.0
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