Furloughed and doing another job

[fluffedup]

DH will be furloughed as of Wednesday next week. He will be paid 80% of his wages - his employers will not be making up the 20% (surprise!)
My wage has already been reduced by 25% (while still working - bastards) so things will be tight. DH would like to try to get some other work while he is on furlough.

His contract of employment does not stop him from doing this but apparently the government's rules for furlough say you are not allowed to work in another job during your normal working hours.
His normal hours are 9-5. So he can't get another job during those hours but he could eg get a night job.
Is this true - has anyone else heard about this?

well I googled it ...

Can I work for another employer if I am furloughed?

Staff may be able to work for another employer so long as it does not breach the contractual obligations set out. They should only work outside of the hours they would normally work with the job they have been furloughed from.

Taking an extra weekend job at a supermarket, or running deliveries in the evening, may not breach obligations if your contract stipulates a 9am-5pm working day, for example.

What a pita, so he'll have to be away from us in the evenings or weekend.

There is no such restriction at all. Don’t know where the google took you but you should only rely on the government guidance. If you find something that conflicts with the government guidance, ignore it.

See this page, section about while you are on furlough. No restrictions on the hours you are allowed to work.

That might explain why all those people who said they'd work on the farms didn't in the end

@flowery - I googled again as I can't remember where I was it before. I found lots of pages saying that you couldn't work outside your normal hours, eg this one ...

www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/1264000/take-second-job-while-on-furlough-UK-guidelines

but none of them were actually government ones.

So thanks, I'll keep looking.

@wehaveafloater - I thought people did apply to the farm jobs but they wanted people who could live in the accommodation provided, as they start at 5:30am. Which is a stupid reason - lots of jobs start at odd hours and you don't have to live in. I think they just want the rent for the accommodation.

DH wanted a farm job, years ago, long before corona. He is very strong and works hard, and we live near farmland. There were no farm jobs advertised.

It was stated on R4 you could take a temporary job whilst furloughed no mention of hours.

@wehaveafloater the British people who applied for farm jobs didn’t need to make use of the housing that came with it at a very inflated rent.

Hence the farmers chose Europeans instead who do need the accommodation.

Check your contract and your furlough letter. If it says you cannot work elsewhere that is the final decision unless you approach them to request variation. The gvt may say you can now take on additional work but that is only if your contract permits it.

It's that you can't work for your employer while furloughed. To stop them ripping the piss.

If your contract of employment says you can't, you're still bound by that. But few do.

Be aware that furlough can be cancelled without warning, so make the side-job something that'll fit with that.

@spoonbender
Be aware that furlough can be cancelled without warning, so make the side-job something that'll fit with that.

That's not correct - as it states on the gov.uk web site - If your employer chooses to place you on furlough, you will need to remain on furlough for a minimum of 3 consecutive weeks.

So you're clear to work elsewhere for at least 3 weeks from the first day of furlough, it can't be cancelled at a moment's notice at all.

Right - but aren't we more than three weeks into that now, so could be any time?

I guess there may be some places that didn't furlough til later, so fair point.

slaps head such as OP's DP. Whoops. Thanks @Shmithecat2!

Furlough is two things- it’s an agreement between an employer and employee that the employee will stay at home and not work and receive 80% of their wages, and, separately, it is a funding mechanism whereby if certain conditions are met, an employer can claim 80% of a worker’s wages.

To claim the funding from HMRC the worker must be off work for three weeks. But that doesn’t mean furlough can’t be ended at any point. It just means that if it is ended sooner, the employer won’t be reimbursed. We’ve seen plenty of this already, where someone has been furloughed and things change and for whatever reason they are needed back at work. The employer is allowed to require a worker to attend work. It just means they won’t be able to claim for any of that period of furlough.