Full time or two Part time Jobs?

[oliverreed]

I’m on secondment from my full time role to another role. The new role is being made into a part time permanent job and it’s been suggested I could go part time in my substantive post and part time in the new role. Both local authority.

I am trying to think of the implications of this on pay, pension, annual leave etc. I’m late 50’s and worry this might affect my pension (I have 28 years in a defined benefit pension). Also one of these posts is more vulnerable to redundancy (although this is unlikely to happen).

My manager and dh think I should go for it but I’m not so sure. If I didn’t, I’d go back to my substantive post which is one grade below.

Anything I need to consider?

Consider annual leave. If you wanted to go away for a fortnight, would you get leave to match up as well as would you get enough.

The pensions team will be able to let you know about the implications there. If you're late 50s there's also LGPS pension reduction protection if you're made redundant that could be worth asking about so you know when they kick in for you

Also think about how the rest of your substantive post would be covered- would they replace the half or expect you to take on more.

I echo annual leave. You may not be able to take leave for both roles at the same time, depending on others.

I'd want to know how it worked with Payroll also. Could one role potentially be taxed at basic rate? You'd have the rigmarole every year of claiming that back, if so.

Thank you, food for thought. It’s the same department so booking annual leave won’t be a problem. With leave, I was thinking more along the lines of how the hours would be worked out, would I be entitled to the same amount etc.

Another consideration for me would be flexible retirement and how that might work in two separate jobs. If I were to be full time, I could drop two days and take my pension (I’ll be around 62/63 when this happens). However, if I were in two part time roles, I’m unsure how this would work. It wouldn’t be as easy as just giving up one of the roles as then I’d need to drop the other job altogether giving me fewer hours. It’s a big decision for me at this time of life.

Why would you have to claim back anything? Two part time jobs income is taxed as you choose to split it, the net affect is zero.
Other issues re risk of redundancy are much more important.