Private Work

[Octopus]

Yeah right, If only! that's why us self-employed sole traders end up being noncompetitive with half the jobs we price.

There's always someone's "mate" who will do it on the cheap. :frown2:

Really. Who are these customers who want their jobs done at the weekend? Can't think the last time I was asked about weekend work. And what do you do when your weekend job goes terribly wrong and you have to go back on Monday, take a sickie?

Yes there are a few cowboys around.... There always will be

 

[netblindpaul]

Well if you were my QS, & I found you doing "foreigners" you would be sacked immediately for gross industrial misconduct, and you would be losing all of your employment benefits, as it would have been written into your contract, and I would potentially be looking into suggesting HMRC investigate you, plus, I would be looking to get the scams involved and be looking to report the person doing 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] party sign off, because that’s illegal around here, under Part P.
Then I would be looking at all the jobs that you had done and the materials that you had booked to see if you had stolen materials with a view to reporting you to the police for theft.
I just hope that your employer is more forgiving than I would be.
Been there and been tucked up by employees, so it WILL NOT, happen again.
(However, as we all know, Part P is different in the 3 mainland jurisdictions, which doesn’t help.)

 

[Flanders]

Well if you were my QS, & I found you doing "foreigners" you would be sacked immediately for gross industrial misconduct, and you would be losing all of your employment benefits, as it would have been written into your contract, and I would potentially be looking into suggesting HMRC investigate you, plus, I would be looking to get the scams involved and be looking to report the person doing 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] party sign off, because that’s illegal around here, under Part P.
Then I would be looking at all the jobs that you had done and the materials that you had booked to see if you had stolen materials with a view to reporting you to the police for theft.
I just hope that your employer is more forgiving than I would be.
Been there and been tucked up by employees, so it WILL NOT, happen again.
(However, as we all know, Part P is different in the 3 mainland jurisdictions, which doesn’t help.)

yes i agree you might get away with helping a family or friend with a little job but if you are thinking about doing you own work you nead to bite the bullet and set up properly on you own. not only could you loose you job you could have the tax man on your back .if your job is going well stick with it untill it ends then maybe set up on your own , don't jungle two jobs as im sure you will end up in a mess

 

[Sparkie30]

Well if you were my QS, & I found you doing "foreigners" you would be sacked immediately for gross industrial misconduct, and you would be losing all of your employment benefits, as it would have been written into your contract, and I would potentially be looking into suggesting HMRC investigate you, plus, I would be looking to get the scams involved and be looking to report the person doing 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] party sign off, because that’s illegal around here, under Part P.
Then I would be looking at all the jobs that you had done and the materials that you had booked to see if you had stolen materials with a view to reporting you to the police for theft.
I just hope that your employer is more forgiving than I would be.
Been there and been tucked up by employees, so it WILL NOT, happen again.
(However, as we all know, Part P is different in the 3 mainland jurisdictions, which doesn’t help.)

dead oh dear...... Where would you stop?

 

[netblindpaul]

I wouldn't stop.
Why should I the bloke would be taking work off my company, and taking work from his colleagues, despicable.
IMHO, it is tantamount to fraud.
If the guy ended up doing time then so be it, he took the risk and mucked up, his problem not mine, i would have others to consider too.
He would be taking work off them also.

 

[Leesparkykent]

I wouldn't stop.
Why should I the bloke would be taking work off my company, and taking work from his colleagues, despicable.
IMHO, it is tantamount to fraud.
If the guy ended up doing time then so be it, he took the risk and mucked up, his problem not mine, i would have others to consider too.
He would be taking work off them also.

HAHA :frown2:

 

[Sparkie30]

I wouldn't stop.
Why should I the bloke would be taking work off my company, and taking work from his colleagues, despicable.
IMHO, it is tantamount to fraud.
If the guy ended up doing time then so be it, he took the risk and mucked up, his problem not mine, i would have others to consider too.
He would be taking work off them also.

how is he taking work from your company if he does does a pj ? If you think about it anyone else doing electrics is taking work from you then, despicable.

 

[LVSparks]

Well if you were my QS, & I found you doing "foreigners" you would be sacked immediately for gross industrial misconduct, and you would be losing all of your employment benefits, as it would have been written into your contract, and I would potentially be looking into suggesting HMRC investigate you, plus, I would be looking to get the scams involved and be looking to report the person doing 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] party sign off, because that’s illegal around here, under Part P.
Then I would be looking at all the jobs that you had done and the materials that you had booked to see if you had stolen materials with a view to reporting you to the police for theft.
I just hope that your employer is more forgiving than I would be.
Been there and been tucked up by employees, so it WILL NOT, happen again.
(However, as we all know, Part P is different in the 3 mainland jurisdictions, which doesn’t help.)

I don't steal business or materials.
I get asked to do work through word of mouth.

 

[GMES]

Everyone is different, I have 3 lads now on the books and they have all had the same rules set out to them, which is if I catch them doing their own work while either using my vans and diesel or with my materials or my name and the first thing they will lose is their front teeth ( nothing like a nice toolbox talk )

You have to have trust within a company and I trust them especially my main lad who once said the last thing he wants to do in his spare time is more elctrical work and he has even brought family work into the company and they have paid a legit invoice with vat. As you have probably guessed he will have a job with me for life if he wants it.

 

[lews123]

Everyone is different, I have 3 lads now on the books and they have all had the same rules set out to them, which is if I catch them doing their own work while either using my vans and diesel or with my materials or my name and the first thing they will lose is their front teeth ( nothing like a nice toolbox talk )

You have to have trust within a company and I trust them especially my main lad who once said the last thing he wants to do in his spare time is more elctrical work and he has even brought family work into the company and they have paid a legit invoice with vat. As you have probably guessed he will have a job with me for life if he wants it.

Respect to GMES... exactly how it should be ran... not as per numb nuts up there ^^^

 

[tombrooker84]

To add fuel to this fire, I have a full time job, as a shift electrical engineer, in a large firm. Pretty much the same scenario, I was asked to do some private work e.t.c. In the end I got asked more & more, and I got too worried about losing my job, the tax man e.t.c. I ended up exploring the H.R. route and after a discussion with my boss, it was agreed here was no conflict of interest, so I signed the relevant forms and was allowed to carry out other work. The tax side of things was a lot more complicated, because of my wage at work it meant that carrying out private work would mean I was working for more or less peanuts, so spoke to an accountant set up a limited company e.t.c. The long and short of it was that in order to cover overheads and make the profit I wanted and had to virtually work non stop and after 2 years I'd had enough of it. It got to the point where I had to choose one job over another. In the end I choose my existing job. The realization of going round peoples houses to quote, invoicing book keeping and carrying out the work, meant if I was to calculate my hourly rate it would of been ridiculously low, in the 2 years I did it, the only time I made a half decent profit was to employ a couple of subbies and take on a ton of work, but by doing this I sacrificed a lot of time with my kids and family. My brother in law is a tax inspector and after some discussions with him, dodging the tax man is a really bad idea, but of course you have to get caught, but one phone call from an annoyed client informing the tax office that they paid you cash is all it takes.

 

[davesparks]

how is he taking work from your company if he does does a pj ? If you think about it anyone else doing electrics is taking work from you then, despicable.

If he is doing the pj for one of the customers of netblindpaul's company then he is directly taking work from him.

When I was employed I used to do private work for family and friends of family, but would refuse any requests for work from the company's customers for this very reason.

 

[netblindpaul]

Hmm, trust.

The thing is I have been the other side of this in the past.
We had an employee purchase scheme.
Employees were allowed to purchase materials for their own personal use at cost and repay the company from their wages.
We had one employee decide to take that one step further and start to offer customers cash deals on materials that he was supposed to be selling on behalf of the company, which he was purchasing at our cost price through the company, we had one very loyal & reliable customer let us know because, he thought it odd that we were all of a sudden offering cash deals, without VAT etc.
He was VAT Reg'd, and also ran a reputable company.

So, I have a bit of a history, and would have NO qualms in dropping an employee into deep trouble if they decided to do such a thing.

I would never dream of physically assaulting them, because that would be a criminal offence in itself, which is something that I would never undertake, nor condone.
I would merely use the legal route to sort the issue out, including as I said, pursuing a conviction and a custodial sentence if I could.
It would be written into their contracts of employment, and enforced ruthlessly.

 

[Sparkie30]

If he is doing the pj for one of the customers of netblindpaul's company then he is directly taking work from him.

When I was employed I used to do private work for family and friends of family, but would refuse any requests for work from the company's customers for this very reason.

If he does that, then yeah i agree with you. But to dissmiss someone because he does a pj for a friend i think it is wrong. MO anyway.

 

[davesparks]

If he does that, then yeah i agree with you. But to dissmiss someone because he does a pj for a friend i think it is wrong. MO anyway.

That all depends on the terms of the persons contract. If you are employed under a contract which prohibits it then you have to expect to be sacked for it.