Councils discover hundreds of staff secretly hold second full-time jobs

At least 288 local authority employees have been caught working second full-time jobs since 2020, often without informing their employer, according to new findings from Witan Solicitors. The figures, obtained through Freedom of Information requests to more than 300 councils in England, show that 46 staff were either dismissed or formally disciplined after being discovered to have taken on additional full-time roles. So-called “overemployment” is a growing trend on platforms such as TikTok and Reddit, where users share tips on how to juggle multiple jobs undetected. Common tactics include the use of “mouse jigglers” to simulate activity and strategies for avoiding documentation that could attract attention.

Qarrar Somji, Solicitor-Advocate and Director at Witan Solicitors, said the cases uncovered may represent only a fraction of the true scale of the issue. “When public sector staff secretly take on second full-time jobs, it raises serious concerns about how taxpayers’ money is being used. While the pressures driving some people to double job are understandable, roles funded by the public purse need to be carried out with transparency, accountability, and full commitment. Unfortunately, most councils don’t have the resources to proactively investigate this issue, which means many more cases may be going undetected.”

The risks for employers extend beyond lost productivity. According to Witan, double jobbing could lead to breaches of the Working Time Regulations, exposing organisations to unlimited fines or prosecution. There are also risks of data breaches, errors caused by fatigue, and conflicts of interest where employees work for competing organisations.

One recent case saw a government employee prosecuted after working two council jobs at the same time. Barnsley Council identified a dual full-time employee with another local authority, and it was revealed that the same employee had been on two 37-hour-week contracts. The employee was prosecuted, pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 12 months in prison

Somji advised that employers who suspect staff of overemployment should begin by reviewing contractual terms. “Most contracts have clauses requiring disclosure of other work. If those terms have been breached, or if performance is suffering as a result, employers may have grounds for disciplinary action, including summary dismissal for gross misconduct.”