Question: One of our part time employees wants to take a second job, on a day they do not work for us, in order to earn more money.  Although we cannot offer them any more hours we would like them to be available to work should we need to call them in. Can we refuse them taking the second job?

Answer: In simple terms the answer is no.  An employer can only refuse a second job if there is a conflict of interest with the second company or if the total number of hours the employee will work, between both employers, would be above the 48 hour maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive.

Under any contract of employment the company has a right to expect employees to work during the time they are paid to work, and employees have an obligation to work during those hours. Any other time the employee has available, outside their contractual hours, is their own time and they can do as they please.

Whilst it would be great if you could ensure employees are ‘available to work’ whenever you might need them, it would be a little unfair to deny them the opportunity to earn more money, especially if you cannot offer the employee more hours. 

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