Can I take up a 2nd job whilst on maternity leave?

[Andrea77245]

Hello I'm currently on maternity leave and will be until next year, I didn't qualify for smp so have been getting maternity allowance which is not enough at all and have bene struggling but cannot go back to full time work yet as will not have childcare.
Can I take up a 2nd job and work 2 or 3 evenings while I'm on maternity leave from my main job? I understand i would be loosing my maternity allowance and that ok.
Also would I get taxed for this as a 2nd job?

You can't with maternity allowance, no.

'employer?
MA is paid by the JobCentre Plus. You are allowed to work for up to ten days during your MA period. The ten days of work will include any employed or self-employed work you do during your MA period, regardless of how many employers you work for. You must report any days of work to the JobCentre Plus.
After you have done ten days of work during your MA period you can be disqualified from MA for any week in which you do further work. However, the disqualification should be reasonable depending on how many days you will be working.'

Oh I see you don't mind losing the money. Then yes, you should be able to.

You lose your maternity rights returning to the workplace whilst on maternity leave outside of the 10 KIT days