Sickness question when you have 2 jobs

[ssd]

If you worked 2 days in one job and 3 days in another, can you be off one job sick on full pay with stress and still legally work in the other job?

I doubt it.

Not sure.

One of my colleagues works two jobs and went off long term sick. She returned to one job before the other because one of them was very physical (cleaning).

Having said that, it was an operation so nothing to do with stress.

No, if you have a sick note you’re signed off work. As far as I’m aware there are insurance implications for companies who have you at work when you’re signed off.

No - I had this earlier this year . Had to stop both jobs whilst I was off . The other job didn’t pay sick pay but I wouldn’t have got sick pay in first job if I had carried on working in second job .

I don't know. I think it might depend on the similarity of the work. If the jobs were the same then I think less likely.

I mean you could argue your job as a financial controller for a failing business was causing you stress, but you are able to do your other job as a florist as it's not stressful and in fact you find it therapeutic?

I honestly am just guessing about that though.

I think you'd very quickly be sacked from the sick note job if you are off but moonlighting and the second employer may have issues with liability insurance as you are signed off unfit for work.

If they are very different jobs - you could be unfit for a job which needs heavy lifting but fit for one which is sitting at a laptop.

I think you need to do some digging and find out how it works from an NI point of view. Can you actually get SSP in a week where you have paid a PAYE NI contribution? Will the two flag up that you were working and claiming SSP at the same time? I'd imagine you can't do this for that reason.

What does it say on your FIT note?

I think with stress it may be difficult, but if one was physical and one was a desk job and you had a broken leg it might be different.

Long story short, yes you can.

It can cause problems so to make life easier, ideally you’d be open and honest with each of your employers that they are not your only employer so that when there is sickness they are aware you have a role elsewhere.

If say you are off with work related stress caused by job 1, then in theory you may not be fit to work for them, but may be fit for job 2. But the expectation would be for job 1 to put in adjustments to allow you to be at work while they try to sort out the issues. This can cause problems if employer and employee disagree with what the issues are. An employer may ask for Occupational Health input

If you were off sick for general stress/anxiety/depression and felt you could work at one role but not the other, then either employer may be questioning you as to why you can work for one but not the other. This can cause problems.

If you have one very physical job and one sedentary job and injured your leg. You may be fit for the sedentary job but not the physical job.

It all comes down to the specific circumstances really

Yes. I’d assume you’d need the fit note to say the conditions under which you are able to work, and one job might not be able to meet those conditions.

Eg maybe you can work, but only if you can wfh (I’ve had this on a fit note before). Maybe job 1 can accommodate that but job 2 can’t.

This ⬆

Yes you can be signed off from one job and still be able to do another.

For example you could have an injury like a broken leg that prevents you to do a physical job for a while but not prevent you from doing another job where you only need to use a computer.

Also if you are off for stress because of a specific toxic work environment, that does not mean you can't work on another job where the work environment is good and is not affecting your mental health.

I am off sick from a part time job as an employee because they are causing my depression with toxicity, back stabbing and unreasonable deadlines and workloads.

I am still working on my freelance activities because they do not cause me a similar level of stress.

I also always made it clear to any employer at the interview stage when I take a part time job that I freelance the rest of the time so there is no issue with disclosure.