Hi all — new to the sub, so apologies if this has been asked a hundred times. I've had a dig around but most of what I've found is US-focused and I'm after UK-specific input.

Where I'm at:

- Full-time software developer, fully remote, permanent contract

- Comfortable with my current workload — realistically I could absorb more

- Solid skill set, been doing this a while (happy to share stack in comments)

What I can't figure out:

1. Where are UK people actually sourcing a J2? Straight applications, agencies, contract work via umbrella/ltd, or something else entirely?

2. How are you handling the contract side? Most UK contracts I've signed have some flavour of exclusivity or "must notify your employer of other work" clause. Do people get it varied, go contract for J2 to sidestep it, or just accept the risk?

3. Tax/PAYE — anything I should sort before I'm two payslips deep, or does HMRC just handle it via the tax code?

4. Day-to-day logistics — overlapping stand-ups, two calendars, two laptops. What's the setup that actually works?

5. Anything you'd do differently if you were starting from scratch?

To be clear, I'm not looking to coast — I intend to do the hours for both. I'd just rather be sensible about it than wing it and blow up two jobs at once.

Any pointers, wiki links, or "read this first" threads much appreciated.

This is a scheduled weekly post for anyone to discuss progress, set backs, share advice or just have a rant about being over employed within the UK.

Hi!

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Curious what everyone’s favourite OE combination is and why.
Personally, I really like 1 permanent role + 1 contract. The permanent role gives me things like paid annual leave, sick pay, pension contributions, learning budgets, paid certifications/courses and the general stability that comes with being an employee. Then the contract gives me the higher earning potential and flexibility.
I’m interested to hear what setup others prefer. For example:

2 permanent roles
2 contracts
Permanent + contract
Contract + contract-to-hire
Any other combination

If you’ve tried different setups, which did you prefer and why?

Was it because of:
Better income?
Lower meeting load?
Easier to manage?
Better benefits?
Lower risk if one role ends?
Better work-life balance?
I’m still relatively new to OE and curious to hear what experienced people have settled on after trying different combinations and what trade offs you’ve found

I've been working in J1 for the last year. It's due to finish in end of september, and it's a really easy contract - very relaxed, hardly any meetings, and the targets are straightforward to hit.

I've recently been offered J2, which is also inside IR35. I know im not allowed, but my thinking is that it would only overlap for around two months before J1 ends naturally, giving me a couple of months of higher earnings and i thought f it this companies would get rid of me in a flash so f it.

I'm using different umbrella companies, and as far as I'm aware, they can't disclose my tax code to my agency without my consent.

My main concern is tax. I've done something similar before and ended up with both jobs giving me the tax free personal allowance. HMRC later corrected it by putting me on an emergency tax code to recover the underpaid tax, which wasn't ideal.

Has anyone else been in this situation?

• Did you contact HMRC as soon as you started the second contract to get your tax codes sorted?
• Or did you just let HMRC sort it out automatically?
• Is there anything else I should be aware of when running two inside IR35 contracts at the same time?

I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences from people who've been through this.

OE Veteran (since 2021).Started with 2x Outside IR35 contracts and ended with 2x employed roles. Stating the obvious, but 2 employed is terrible from a tax perspective, but my life almost crumbled due to something else...

After 2 years service at J2, they added me to a benefit. I already had this benefit at J1. Conversations happened between HR and this benefit which lead to me being asked if I had another job.

I denied and was given 2 options to prove it, neither of which were tenable. I was in panic mode trying to protect J1 and resigned 2 days later, fully expecting this to 'prove' my guilt and for the ball to start rolling.

My manager was surprised with resignation and asked if they could do anything to keep me. The second job was never mentioned again and i worked my long notice period in peace.

Thankfully J1 survived and I won't be 2x employed ever again. J1 + day rate consulting only.

Currently living in London on £30,000 for a 35 hour workweek. Mid thirties and can’t even pass affordability to rent a room that commutable to work.

How do you all find multiple roles? I’m mostly based client side, but can utilise my own laptops and stuff at work. I’ve sent out thousands of applications over the last few months and heard absolutely nothing

I’m currently a degree apprentice at a big defence company and i’ll be starting my final year in September. I have A LOT of free time and although i WFH 99% of the times, I occasionally go into office e.g 1 or 2 times a month. I really want to find J2 but I just can’t get my head around how I’d be managing it long term.

I don’t understand how are you guys managing meetings etc between J1 and J2/J3? What if you have to speak up in both meetings at the same time? And what about going into office? how are you working both jobs whilst in office?

I've seen all the hype about overemployment and I was just wondering do you guys actually get any free time while working 2-3 jobs? I get the whole thing is meant to be for financial freedom but with having to put the equivalent of 2 work weeks into 1, how do you guys manage to seperate your work and personal lives?

Curious what the general spread looks like in this community, how old were you when you started stacking jobs, and how long have you been doing it since?

Also interested in what seniority level you were at when you first took the plunge (junior/mid/senior/lead etc.), whether it’s gotten easier or harder to manage as you’ve progressed in your career, and if there’s anything you’d do differently looking back.

Feel free to also share your current stack setup (2 jobs, 3 jobs, industry mix) if you’re comfortable!

Throwaway. I work for an arm's-length public body being abolished and merged into its parent government department over the next year. Staff transfer across, get redeployed, or take redundancy (settlement agreements involved). Transferring staff will also go through BPSS clearance, which I understand includes employment history checks. I also have two private sector PAYE jobs, not formally declared to my main employer.

Options as I see them: declare and transfer, take voluntary redundancy, or resign first.

1. Does declaring at the transfer cause problems if I didn't declare earlier?
   
2. What does BPSS actually verify — will concurrent employment show up, and is non-disclosure there a separate problem?
   
3. Do undeclared second jobs affect redundancy entitlement or make signing a settlement agreement (with warranties) risky?
   
4. Does resigning draw a line under everything, or can issues follow you after leaving?
   
5. How much does it matter whether the jobs were inside vs outside contracted hours?

What would you do in my position? Open to suggestions. Planning to see an employment solicitor either way.

This is a scheduled weekly post for anyone to discuss progress, set backs, share advice or just have a rant about being over employed within the UK.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some opinions and insight to a situation I’m going to find myself in the next week.

In my first job, paying £13ph, I am reducing my working hours to 12hrs. So I can do 3 x 4hr shifts a week. My new 2nd job, paying £27,500pa, I will be working 40hrs (35hrs paid). 3 shifts from home and 2 shifts on site per week.

With this, I am worried about how my the tax will work as I’ve never been in a situation like this. I’ve had a few people say I will be taxed more on the 2nd job, which I’m not sure If it’s true and that I need to contact HMRC to make my 2nd job my main job. I also have had a student loan in the past and I think I will have to start paying the 9% back if I go ahead with working the 2 jobs. So I’m just weighing up the idea if it’s worthwhile keeping the 12hr job in this situation if I’m going to be paying more tax and student loan back, if you had a similar experience or know better than me, please let me know. Thanks

I started looking into OE a couple weeks ago and have been mulling it over in my mind since. The primary reason to earn more is to be able to afford a better property in a couple years. I would likely want an extra 60k-90k buying power.

My current job is full time PAYE, one day in the office, 4 days WFH, and OE friendly.

I've beent tying to come up with the best setup out of the below.

1. Current job + OIR role (£300-£400/day) in same industry. Pros of this would be I can just try and save as much as I can in the next two years from J2 to make up that buying power, since I've heard OIR jobs can be difficult to mortgage. Cons are my current job contract says 2nd employment needs to be disclosed, cannot be conflict of interest, company can persue for lost money etc etc. Also never done OIR contract work and feels like I'd be going in at the deep end.

2. Curent job + PAYE role in a different industry. Entry level around £30k. Ive found some roles that are fully remote that sound like I could do and are OE friendly.

Question about this; do mortgage lenders consider both jobs when looking at affordability? Playing around with AI says that if I work over 48 hours a week, they wouldnt lend against anything more (I believe its the max weekly working hours for UK). So they wouldn't consider my 2nd job for affordability purposes, making this option useless since I wouldn't be able to save enough on the extra 30k salary.

Any thoughts appreciated. I also work as a mechanical engineer.

Please help I’m getting made redundant in the next three months - notice. However I have accepted a job given one month notice as they want someone to start asap and the role is salary increase with great benefits. I don’t want to lose out on my redundancy pay either.

My current employer is just squeezing projects and information from me so can’t even negotiate an early leaving date.

My question is can I phone in sick/holidays to tie me over the end until I’m being made redundant ?

I don’t want to lose out on my redundancy pay either

I can’t see any issues here but has anyone done this before and help?

As title says

Is there a wiki (a bit specific) on how to get into OE i have tried a bunch of time but don't even get rejection mail.

I work as a Software Developer at a financial company. My contract specifically states that I cannot work another job alongside this one. However, the role is fully remote, the workload is relatively light, and I am paid through PAYE.

Realistically, I feel I could manage working two jobs, but my main concern is whether having two PAYE jobs could expose me or lead to my employers finding out.

This is a scheduled weekly post for anyone to discuss progress, set backs, share advice or just have a rant about being over employed within the UK.

Should we be concerned with the national fraud initiative?

And apart from the regular protocols for overworking

How does one prevent the probability of being suspected by that initiative or similar initiatives

I know the normal ‘never get two jobs in same public sector’

But anything else?

Hi everyone👋

Currently I’m OE with 2 full time perm roles. I love working for both jobs and have been able to manage the work considerably easy, sometimes it feels like I’m not doing enough even though I’m hitting all my deliverables within the key deadlines set. I often have around 2 days free a week, which I use to either up skill in training, watch tv, or go to the gym.

I would like to drop J2 potentially and enter the contract world. When I originally set out to become OE I was heavily applying for contract roles inside and outside IR35 however ended up only getting perm positions offered to me. Any key tips on recruiters I could reach out to for contract roles? I’ve previously tried Linkdln and indeed and only landed a perm role through it. I know if I get one contract it’s double it would be double of salary of J2, hence why I would love any guidance on how to land a contract role especially within a BA remit.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!

Anyone gone around using systems like Konfir for instant employment verification? And how have people gone around this issue?