Leaving but employer wants to keep me on payroll

[paintyhands]

I’m leaving my FT job but my employer has said he would like to offer me any ‘ad-hoc’ work that may come up if I am willing and available. I’m happy with this, as I hope to get part time work elsewhere so could combine it with that. He has said he will keep me on the payroll but I am not sure how this might affect tax in any new role/s I begin. The ‘ad-hoc’ work is unlikely to be very regular so I’m not sure I could or should class it as a second job for paperwork purposes. Does anyone have experience of this? Thank you.

I’ve had two part time paye jobs at the same time. I designated one as my main job and the other as a second job. Second job did get a higher tax, but at the end of the tax year a rebate was issued by Hmrc. I would just speak to payroll about this once you get another part time job. It was a tick box on the p45. Easy to do.

Thank you! I have had two PT jobs in the past as well, but both contracted to specific hours so this feels different. Your advice is helpful though and if it’s unlikely to affect tax in relation to the main job I end up doing that’s all good.

I would say make sure you get a new contract (0 hours?) from the old job.

A new FT job may specify that they don’t want you to take additional employment or that you have to clear it with them first, so check any new contracts carefully in case you need to disclose the 2nd job.

You can ask HMRC to split your tax code however you like between different employments. Any overpaid tax should come back eventually and you can speed the process along by doing a self assessment tax return asap

Thank you @BeastOfBODMAS. I don’t intend to get another FT job - I’m leaving so that I can go PT. If a new PT job prevented me from doing the other work or viewed it as a conflict I probably just wouldn’t bother with it. I didn’t realise a self assessment could be done when PAYE though - how does that work?

Pretty much anyone can register to complete a self assessment online, you’d just enter the info from your P60s (if no other bits relevant) and at the end it tells you your tax over/underpayment amount and you can enter bank details for your rebate to be paid.

I’ve no idea how long it takes for HMRC to calculate the rebate and send it through unprompted , so just suggesting this as an option.

Tax codes are a bit of a dark art and I’ve dealt with plenty of payroll clerks that don’t understand them! HMRC would rather collect too much tax than chase it later as a general rule.
You can see your tax code info online www.gov.uk/check-income-tax-current-year