Concurrent employment

What it means

A concurrent employment relationship is an additional employment relationship an employee enters into alongside their main job. It may be with another employer or with the same one if the work is of a different kind. Each concurrent relationship is based on a separate employment contract.

Each employment relationship is assessed separately. In each the employee is entitled to pay, holiday and other rights under the Labour Code, and the employer registers them with the insurers and deducts contributions separately. Total working time should still be watched so that it does not endanger health and safety.

A concurrent job differs from agreements for work outside employment, such as the work activity agreement. An agreement has capped hours and different rules, whereas a concurrent job is a full employment relationship with the same entitlements as the main one.

How it works in practice

For employees with concurrent jobs, tax is the main issue. The tax-free allowance and child tax credit can be claimed with only one employer, the one with whom the employee signs the employee tax declaration. The other employer withholds tax without these reliefs.

After the year ends, an employee with concurrent jobs at different employers usually cannot ask for an annual reconciliation and files their own tax return. For health insurance, the insurer takes all income into account together in its annual reconciliation.

If the concurrent job is with the same employer, the type of work must differ and working time must be kept separate. The employer must record working hours for each relationship separately, so it is clear they do not overlap and that the required uninterrupted rest is observed.

What to watch out for

A concurrent job with the same employer for the same type of work is not allowed. If it is really just a way to pay overtime without supplements, the labour inspectorate may treat it as circumventing the law and order the shortfall to be paid.

The employee must also respect duties to the main employer, such as a non-compete clause. If their contract requires consent for other paid work in the same line of business, working without it may breach work discipline.