# Career break from public service - can I work part time?



## An Bhanríon (5 Jan 2009)

Has anybody worked part-time while on career break from the public service?

  I work in the public service and would like to take a career break for a year to go back to college. The only thing holding me back is that I’m not sure what money I can earn while on career break. I have a couple of quid saved but not enough to survive on for a whole year, of course.

  In the terms set out for career breaks in the public service it says you can’t ‘take up alternative employment within the State’. Does this just mean simply that you can’t have a full-time job, or does it mean as well that you can’t work part-time?

  My plan was to go back to college and work maybe 10 hours a week to help pay the bills.

  [FONT=&quot]I have tried finding out if I am allowed to do this by reading the Department of Finance circulars and by asking my personel department, but nobody seems to know the answer to my question. Maybe askaboutmoney will have the answer!!![/FONT]


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## Green (5 Jan 2009)

I would be surprised if your Personnel Dept couldn't get the right answer. Thye could, if confused ask Finance for a view. My view is that you can't take up paid employment while on a careeer break.


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## buzybee (5 Jan 2009)

Would you be better off to ask to stay in your current job & work one or one and a half days a week, rather than trying to get evening work to supplement college?

Most colleges are off a half day Fridays.  If you got the morning lecture notes off someone, you could still work Fridays.

I think working part time in your current job would be more profitable & less stressful than trying to find bar/shop work at the weekends, which would only pay min wage.

Alternatively if your college course is available evenings, you could study at night and look for a 3 or 4 day week at work?


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## Celtwytch (5 Jan 2009)

An Bhanríon said:


> In the terms set out for career breaks in the public service it says you can’t ‘take up alternative employment within the State’. Does this just mean simply that you can’t have a full-time job, or does it mean as well that you can’t work part-time?


 
That seems pretty clear to me - no, you cannot take up paid employment of any sort within Ireland while on a career break.  I would look into what others have suggested here, and drop a few days in work in order to study.


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## becky (5 Jan 2009)

In the HSE you are required to sign a document staing that you will not work while on career break.  However, I am aware of people who worked full time while on career break without any consequence.  

No HR department is going to advise you that you can work and then ask you to sign a document stating you can't.


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## queenlex (5 Jan 2009)

I was told I couldnt work in ireland but could work in Northern Ireland but that might depend on your department too??


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## Don_08 (5 Jan 2009)

Slightly Off Topic - but how come teachers can take career breaks and use that time to be highly paid TDs??  Or is this an exception to the clause?


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## huskerdu (5 Jan 2009)

Don_08 said:


> Slightly Off Topic - but how come teachers can take career breaks and use that time to be highly paid TDs?? Or is this an exception to the clause?


 
This is not a standard  career break, but a specific right to take a sibbatical to be a full time public representative.


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## An Bhanríon (5 Jan 2009)

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Just found some new information regarding the rules in Northern Ireland. There it seems you can work part time if in full-time education while on career break, so that you don't end up completely broke and in debt by the end of your year off. So I wonder if the same is possible on this side of the border ... It would make a lot of sense. I'll keep searching for info. Sorry, personnel in my place are useless and I have to go to them to get all my information. Which is why I posted here.

I know I could work part-time in my own job. It's just the part-time work I want to do while on career break is actually associated with the course I want to do - and pays better than the average bar / shop work. There is method in my madness!


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## gipimann (5 Jan 2009)

I concur with Becky's post above - in the HSE, you are not allowed to take up employment in this country while on a career break. I think the HSE have the right to demand you return to work in the HSE if it's found that you are working elsewhere.

You are allowed to work abroad and you are also allowed to be self-employed while on a career break.


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## poohbear (5 Jan 2009)

In the Civil Service you can work while on a career break but your working hours must not compete with normal office hours. So if you work late evenings and weekends and pay tax then that would be fine. A word of caution, any department is only required to take you back after your career break has completed when they have a vacancy to fill. This would not have been a problem in years past but due to our economic environment now and the proposed wage bill cuts for the Public Sector this could prove problematic in the future. Good luck


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## becky (5 Jan 2009)

poohbear said:


> In the Civil Service you can work while on a career break but your working hours must not compete with normal office hours. So if you work late evenings and weekends and pay tax then that would be fine. A word of caution, any department is only required to take you back after your career break has completed when they have a vacancy to fill. This would not have been a problem in years past but due to our economic environment now and the proposed wage bill cuts for the Public Sector this could prove problematic in the future. Good luck


 
I never heard of this but its an interesting slant.  I suppose its because you can take a second job while you are working once you don't go over 48 hours.

We now have waiting lists for career break returners (HSE).  I remember a time when a lot of people 'never got the letter' or 'not known at this address' or 'I wrote back, did you not get the letter?'.....


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## Complainer (5 Jan 2009)

gipimann said:


> you are also allowed to be self-employed while on a career break.


I think this would only apply if the reason for the career break was to set up your own business.


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## sue_flaherty (5 Jan 2009)

When I took a career break the reasons you were allowed to take it were
to study
to stay at home to look after children or elderly relatives
to travel
to set up a business.

I know of people who applied under one of these reasons and then worked at another job in Ireland.  From what I read at some stage was that, if your department found you were working, they would take disciplinary action which would to come back to your job or resgin.


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## j26 (5 Jan 2009)

I'd say it's pretty likely you could have trouble getting back after a year.  Budgets are under severe pressure, and there are already some people coming back from career breaks who are waiting for vacancies.  

The only upside is that you are allowed work full-time if your career break has expired, but the department hasn't taken you back.


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## Keano99 (15 Jan 2009)

Hi,

If you take a career break to "set up your own business", do you think it would be possible to setup as a sole trader & then if you get offered a job ask the company to employ you on a sole trader basis instead of through the PAYE system.
They would be saving on Employers PRSI and holiday & sick pay etc. so you would think they wouldn't mind....
and you would be working as a sole trader so technically working for your own business.....


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## Eblanoid (15 Jan 2009)

Keano99 said:


> Hi,
> 
> If you take a career break to "set up your own business", do you think it would be possible to setup as a sole trader & then if you get offered a job ask the company to employ you on a sole trader basis instead of through the PAYE system.
> They would be saving on Employers PRSI and holiday & sick pay etc. so you would think they wouldn't mind....
> and you would be working as a sole trader so technically working for your own business.....



Revenue would simply regard this as scheme for the company to avoid paying Employer's PRSI on your behelf, especially if the company was your main client as a Sole Trader.  Revenue could simply deem you to be an employee, regardless of your registration as a Sole Trader.

See the section "Determining the Employment Status of an Individual - Contract  of Employment or a Contract for Service" in this document:
[broken link removed]

Now, if you set up a Limited company, that would be a different matter, because a Limited company is a seperate legal entity to you.


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## Keano99 (16 Jan 2009)

Hi Eblanoid,

What could/would Revenue do if they found out you were doing this? Would they force the company to pay you through PAYE, therefore requiring you to get your P45 off the job (civil service) you were on a career break from...
which would tip your old job off that you had got another job while on career break..

if this happened would the civil service demand you return from career break immediately or could they cancel your contract beacuse of the breach?


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## Eblanoid (16 Jan 2009)

Keano99 said:


> Would they force the company to pay you through PAYE,


I would imagine so, but I'm not an expert on how they would do this.


Keano99 said:


> therefore requiring you to get your P45 off the job (civil service) you were on a career break from...
> which would tip your old job off that you had got another job while on career break.


There is are two common misconceptions at work here:
A. that you can only have one PAYE job at a time.  This is not true, you can have multiple PAYE jobs at the same time. I have had 3 PAYE jobs registered with Revenue in the past. It would make sense to assign most of your tax credits to your most reliable (least part-time) PAYE job.
B. that if you have a job with employer A, you must divulge details of this employment when you want to take up employment with employer B.  You do not have to give employer B a P60 or a P45.  You can simply ring up Revenue PAYE section and tell them employer B's tax number, indicating that this will be your second job.  Revenue will send (by paper or electronically through ROS) details of your standard-rate cut off point and tax credits (adjusted to take acount of job A) to employer B. Employer B will enter these details in his payroll system.  You will be paying the correct amount of tax in the context of job A and job B.


Keano99 said:


> if this happened would the civil service demand you return from career break immediately or could they cancel your contract beacuse of the breach?


I know nothing about the civil service.


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## Keano99 (16 Jan 2009)

Thanks for the reply Eblanoid.


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