Can I work in a second job if signed off sick from one?

[tweedycoat]

I wouldn’t be working the same hours as in job no1. It would be weekends/evenings. Any advice?

@tweedycoat

I know squirrels, I wouldn’t advertise it of course. It’s just it would make a huge difference to me financially.

Yes I am being paid sick leave.

That would be gross misconduct and you'd likely lose your job

However you could do some volunteering to get you back in the mindset of work

The bigger question is do you like your original job

What are you/your employer doing about the bullying? Have you raised a grievance?

Actually you can depending on what you were signed off sick for. It happened at my old job and there was a huge uproar and our manager even went into the persons other place of work (it was a department store) to take photos of them working to send to HR

Turns out they actually couldn’t do anything because he was signed off with mental health caused my the pressure of that particular job. I wouldn’t have thought so unless I hadn’t had witnessed that myself. This was three years ago so unless the law has changed 🤔

Whoops sorry for spelling and grammar errors in previous post, I’m walking and typing!

You are either well enough to go to work or not

In my line of work if you were found doing this then you would be investigated for fraud. Then potentially sacked, legal proceedings and / or repaying the money

@ChronicallyCurious

Actually you can depending on what you were signed off sick for. It happened at my old job and there was a huge uproar and our manager even went into the persons other place of work (it was a department store) to take photos of them working to send to HR

Turns out they actually couldn’t do anything because he was signed off with mental health caused my the pressure of that particular job. I wouldn’t have thought so unless I hadn’t had witnessed that myself. This was three years ago so unless the law has changed 🤔

Gosh. All these years I’ve spent in HR and employment law and all it takes is an anecdote to decide and advise what the law is.

EL I think there have been enough examples given of cases where working one job would not cause or aggregate sickness and one would, to be honest.

I haven’t raised a grievance, it would be pointless as I am not going back.

A second job would be minimum wage, it wouldn’t ‘replace’ my first salary.

Before everyone piles on this is my first time signed off in 18 years: the situation was intolerable.

I wouldn’t ever think it was ok to be paid sickness benefits from one job and work at another. Morally not on. Legally probably not on!

I haven’t raised a grievance, it would be pointless as I am not going back.

Resign then. Take the other job. Why are you messing around doing nothing proactive?

That would be really rather silly, wouldn’t it?

I can’t leave for another 3 months anyway.

Oh so sorry didn’t see you work in HR!! Of course if you work in HR you’ll know that if an employee is signed off due to stress of one job they can in fact work at another job.

@Feminist10101 I was supposed to @ you in my previous comment, apologies.

No i sacked someone for this

OP. Don’t take legal advice from like this from Mumsnet. It all depends on the wording in why you were signed off etc. I didn’t want to give too much away earlier but the person I mentioned in my previous post at the time was my ex partner and he got legal advice about the issue and the company we worked at could not do anything about it despite raising a grievance process. He did however end up leaving eventually as after this incident the working environment really soured for him.

Most solicitors will offer a 30 minute free consultation if it comes to that but you can also ring citizens advice. They were very helpful in my partners case and assured him that as he was signed off with mental health issues caused by the job they couldn’t do anything, and they were correct.

@ChronicallyCurious

Oh so sorry didn’t see you work in HR!! Of course if you work in HR you’ll know that if an employee is signed off due to stress of one job they can in fact work at another job.

We are currently pursuing 2 members of staff for exactly that (complete with potential fraud charges)!

So no, not as simple as you think AT ALL.

I haven’t raised a grievance, it would be pointless as I am not going back.

So you've resigned, then?

You're not covering yourself in glory here OP.

Are you planning to resign or just continue being off sick for as long as you get paid. Do you need to give 3 months notice. Would it be better just to resign then maybe they will let you go without working any notice.

Someone I worked with got sacked for this - without reference. Check your contract

Yes, you can receive SSP from one job and work another. It doesn't tend to go down well but if you're not planning to go back anyway that's irrelevant. You may need a reference from that employer so I would proceed with caution. How similar are the jobs?

www.gov.uk/employers-sick-pay/eligibility-and-form-ssp1

cumbersome whyever am I not ‘covering myself in glory’? I have resigned as it happens, yes. I’m unsure what difference that makes, at this stage though. The fact is I am not safe at that job, I have had sleepless nights, literally, about it - about accusations and allegations and so on. It’s been horrible.

But I don’t stop having bills to pay because of the above, and I do think people have misunderstood my stance here.

If I could work for just a few weeks part time in a MW role at evenings weekends it would help. That is not me saying I am going to do it. I was wondering if I could.

I think the fact in 18 years I’ve only ever had a few days off speaks volumes, I’m not a shirker but I also can’t repeatedly place myself in an unsafe position that could effect my long term prospects.

It’s not SSP, sorry.

I'd say it's a sackable offence. And not very moral.

If you have resigned already can you not negotiate an earlier end date?

I worked with someone yesterday who is off with stress from their main employment....they can continue in their second job because it is a different employer

@LIZS

If you have resigned already can you not negotiate an earlier end date?

Not without cheating myself out of a lot of money.