Second job: can it be? And how?

The problem is that one is often not enough anymore and it happens that it takes two jobs to be able to have a decent salary and keep yourself in a dignified way. The truth, however, is that from a legal point of view it cannot be a free all: there are rules, of relationship and timetable, which must be respected in any case. So how much and how is it possible to have a second job?

So we consulted the lawyer Angelo Geco (in the picture), author, among other things, of the very recent The law for everyone. The law book that speaks your language (Gribaudo), a text that is easy to consult: on question (there are many on various fields) the lawyer responds with simple and precise words, not from a guessworker.

And, therefore, is it possible to have a second job?
«The possibility of having a second job is regulated differently depending on whether you are a private or public employee. Let’s start with the first. Those who already have an employee job and want to do a second job, also as an employee, must be subject to a series of limitations. First of all, those of time: it cannot be two full times. An employee can work no more than 48 hours per week on average over a 4 month period. This means that you can work more in some weeks of the reference period as long as, in the others, you work less, thus lowering the average (think of an employee who, in one week of the reference period, works 52 hours of activity and, in another of the same period, does 44). It is also necessary to respect the daily rest, which must be equal to at least 11 consecutive hours every 24 hours. Then there is the minimum weekly rest, equal to at least 24 consecutive hours every 7 days (intended as an average to be respected over 14 days). To ensure compliance with the time limits, the law requires the employee to communicate the existence of the first relationship to the second employer. In any case, the employee cannot carry out activities in competition with his employer. Therefore, a second job is only possible insofar as it concerns an activity or a product sector that is completely different from the first (unless otherwise authorized by both employers). Finally, the employee who carries out a second job must avoid communicating to third parties the information he is aware of precisely by virtue of his duties (for example the contact details of customers) “.

And the civil servant? Can you have a second job?
«The situation is different for public employees. These, in principle, cannot carry out a second job, under penalty of heavy disciplinary sanctions that can even lead to dismissal. This limit is imposed to guarantee the impartiality of those who carry out activities of public importance. Public administration employees are therefore prohibited from working for private employers, from holding positions in profit-making companies, from carrying out commercial or industrial entrepreneurial activities, etc. This incompatibility applies to public employees with a full-time or part-time contract of more than 50%. However, there are exceptions. The civil servant, with the authorization of the administration to which he belongs, can only carry out a second job if it is a question of occasional assignments. On the other hand, remuneration deriving from collaborations with newspapers, economic exploitation of intellectual works and industrial inventions by the author, participation in conferences and seminars, assignments for which the employee is placed in leave of absence, in command or out of office and training activities aimed at public employees or teaching and scientific research. The prohibitions and limits on the exercise of a second job do not apply to public employees such as school teachers, university professors with temporary contracts and health personnel “.

But can a second self-employment or a collaboration contract be had without restrictions?
“The time limits just indicated do not apply to those who sign a coordinated and continuous collaboration contract, the so-called co.co.co. In fact, the external collaborator is not bound to a fixed working time, but can manage his own business as he sees fit. Nothing prevents, therefore, that a full-time employee can also sign a co.co.co. The same, a fortiori, is true for those who intend to carry out self-employment while having a full time employed by another employer. In any case, the duty not to carry out activities in competition with the employer remains firm ».