Many people work two jobs to keep up with the rising costs of living. Employers should not unfairly interfere with someone's ability to make additional income. However, an employer's priority should be protecting their own business interests.
In this best practice guide for employers with mulitple employees, we outline secondary employment, the legalities of employees working multiple jobs, and other key factors for employers to remember.
Legislation around secondary employment
Employees have the right to work for other employers, even if they are already employed full-time. The Employment Relations Act 2000 provides that an employment agreement cannot restrict an employee from working multiple jobs unless their employer has genuine reasons. These can include:
- Protecting an employer’s commercially sensitive information.
- Protecting intellectual property.
- Preserving commercial reputation.
- Preventing an unmanageable conflict of interest.
Even if you have reasons such as these, it must still be based on reasonable grounds.
If there is no policy or clause outlining any limitations regarding secondary employment, an employee should still be highlighting if there are any potential conflicts to consider as a part of their good faith obligations.
Responsibilities of employees
Regardless of anything written in their employment agreement, employees have certain obligations prior to starting another role. These obligations can include an employee:
- Not acting in a way that can be misleading or deceptive towards you.
- Maintaining confidentiality and not acting in a way that damages you or your business.
- Managing the work level to not impact their performance at either job.
- Continue to act in good faith and with ongoing and open communication.
Managing employees with secondary employment
Employees have certain responsibilities and have to behave in a fair and responsible way. An employee cannot deceive or mislead their employer, and they cannot act in a way that harms the employer’s business. This includes using information from one of their jobs to assist another employer, breaching confidentiality.
Employers must ensure an employee’s abilities are not impacted by juggling different jobs. There is also a requirement for good communication and clarity to avoid potential risks and liabilities. Your employees also need to have separate hours for their jobs, i.e., they cannot perform work for a second job during their working hours for their main job.
Health and safety at work and secondary employment
When it comes to safety concerns coming from secondary employment, it is ultimately the obligation of your employee with the secondary job to take reasonable care that their additional hours of work do not place other people in the workplace at risk.
Keep in mind there may be additional industry requirements to consider that may limit working hours. For example, log book requirements for the transport industry.
Manage your employees with Peninsula
Employees in New Zealand can have multiple roles or secondary employment. This must be specified in the employment agreement. Understanding your obligations around secondary employment is necessary for employers and business owners. Peninsula offers tailored advice for businesses and employers on managing employees, creating specific employment agreements, and implementing effective policies. Get expert advice on managing employees with second jobs or employment by contacting Peninsula.
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute as business or legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. It does not take into consideration your specific business, industry or circumstances. You should seek legal or other professional advice regarding matters as they relate to you or your business. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Peninsula Group disclaim all liability for any errors or omissions contained in this information or any failure to update or correct this information. It is your responsibility to assess and verify the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of the information in this article.