In today's economy, it is common to be employed for multiple jobs. Employers should not unfairly interfere with someone's ability to make additional income. However, an employer's priority should lie in protecting their own business' interests.
In this best practice guide for employers, 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 include but are not limited to:
- 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 above, 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 that 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 of your employees, it is ultimately an obligation of your employee to take reasonable care that their additional hours of work do not place other people in the workplace at risk.
Keep in mind that 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.