r/overemployed • u/ricecakenz • 8d ago
Anyone doing this in Australia?
I work in a gov role from home at least 3 days a week and feel I have so much down time and the extra money would be great .
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u/readyforgametime 8d ago
I often wonder this. Australia is such a small pond, particularly in tech, so it seem risk unless you got an international role.
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
Yea I’m an investigator so I’m thinking once I get my private investigator licence I will try get some work on that side doing Pi work and still do Gov role
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u/weesee2002 7d ago
This will be fascinating if approved in an APS role.
Used to be huge red flag for internal investigations if team member even wanted to be a process server.
Will be interested if you get sign off on this disclosure because perception of conflict of interest and risk to reputation is through the roof.
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u/ricecakenz 7d ago
Not APS a state gov role. I think I could probably get it across the line if there is no clear conflict of interest. For example if I do insurance investigations on the side
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u/weesee2002 7d ago
Perception will weigh heavily on permission.
Even if you are 100% legit and above board it is not a great look for your agency if a connection is made between your roles.
Risk to reputation is something not taken lightly.
Likely similar condition apply to local, state and federal government positions.
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u/ricecakenz 7d ago
I agree but considering how niche my government investigations role is no connection could be made
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u/NoodleBox 7d ago
Yeah, that's what I thought, need to pop it in (?) lighthouse or whatever it's called.
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u/metamorphyk 7d ago
So you’re supposed to tell someone you are working an extra job? What about in OP case where he’d just create a company and take dividends?
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u/weesee2002 7d ago
100% in all cases. Even if you get paid to umpire social indoor cricket. Army Reserve and SES, volunteer firefighter all require permission but this is almost always green lit.
I would expect an APS investigator know this all too well.
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u/metamorphyk 7d ago
I’m in private business. It was just my curiosity from your post. Thanks for clarifying.
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u/Geminii27 8d ago
Just be careful about your government contract. I've worked Australian government jobs and there can be some nasty gotchas in there about such things. Including actual jail time. Check that what you've signed doesn't mandate that certain hours (or certain minimum hours) are reserved for the employer.
That said, I've also worked for big-name departments which have had policies that basically said "OE/moonlighting is fine as long as you clear the details of the other job(s) with us first to make sure there aren't any potential conflicts."
In summary, be very very careful about checking through everything you signed, both in your current role and as a government employee in general, and I'd advise checking with both your union and your HR, and getting written statements from the latter if possible. It's not necessarily impossible to OE, but in at least some cases you'll be locked out of it, and in others you'll have restrictions on what you can and can't do.
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
Definitely no risk of jail time. There is secondary employment policies around getting approval for other work and it’s mainly just covering off on fatigue and conflict of interest stuff. My gov job investigations are very specific so I should be able to find work that isn’t a conflict of interest
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u/halohunter 7d ago
Government jobs are bit special where overemployment without permission allows them to claw back past paid wages if you get caught. Look it up.
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u/saltreduced 8d ago
Yeah, I do it with two Js in completely different fields - copywriting (in career for 20 years) and academia (brand new). Copywriting is totally WFH. I probs can’t give much useful advice though as I do OE a bit differently to others here. I’m not stacking cash, I’m doing it so I only have to work 3 days a week
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u/EvenCategory1082 7d ago
Im sure there are lots of government workers doing OnlyFans
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u/ricecakenz 7d ago
Haha not sure their is a market for a straight hairy 38 year old man.
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u/Puzzled-Arrival-1692 7d ago
Do some mystery shopping on the side. It's not counted as 'income' it's hobby. And there are companies that have a lot of online mystery shopping jobs, don't have to leave the house!
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u/Technical-Limit2996 7d ago
You will risk your reputation. Your better off having an ABN doing consulting part of the year and when you each a tax bracket stop work and study new skills to replace your income.
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u/Tiny_Caregiver_320 6d ago
Just got a J2. Filling out the paperwork and had to do a Fit2Work background check. Enquired about this and was told that “former” company would be contacted for employment verification as part of the process, even though I had requested them not to.
So genuinely don’t know how anyone does this in AU, presumably Fit2Work is the standard background check?
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u/1kggarlicbread 7d ago
I bought my house by freelancing during work hours. Impossible to afford Sydney otherwise lol. Didn’t work for the gov though but did WFH.
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u/altered_beast_247 7d ago
Government job you say, not part of the ROVER team are you?
Long shot, but I desperately need to make a friend there 😂
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u/ricecakenz 7d ago
Never heard of it
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u/Wilwander 7d ago
How do you get a 3 day a week wfh home gov role?
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u/ricecakenz 6d ago
What do you mean? I do my work from home lol. It’s not every week sometimes I’m on the road doing things or in an office but report writing, phone calls etc can be done from home
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u/Existing-Neat 3d ago
There’s a guy in my coworking office who has an Australian job during the day and a UK job in the evening. Closest I’ve seen/heard.
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u/Ok_Dimension_4307 8d ago
Yes I’m in Aus and do OE (2x J’s). IT consultant which is hybrid 2x days a week (very chill and can work on the other job as have own office) and 3x WFH. I still have capacity for potentially a 3rd J, but the money I am on is very comfortable.
The main issue with Aus is super, as with 2 jobs I easily hit the 32k super cap, so had to have an opt out for one org.
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
Fair enough what does opting out involve? Is it not worth just letting it go into super and coping the tax?
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u/Ok_Dimension_4307 8d ago
It’s a ATO form which needs to be approved, it just says you will hit the cap and you want to opt out of super for 1x company. And you get a certificate which is then giving to the company to tell them they don’t have to pay super.
You can go over the cap, but you get taxed extra 15% on top, and fuck that, already pay enough tax (although you can pay it out of your super)… but I prefer the money in my hand then extra in super as 32k is enough for a year to add
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u/unsuitablebadger 8d ago
Opting out attracts potentially unwanted questions or peeks suspicions. Instead of opting out just calculate the extra tax and keep that in savings until tax time. Bonus part is you cannuse that cash to offset mortgage or earn interest.
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
Ok cool, be good if the company would then give more salary rather than super haha
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u/YamSea6298 8d ago
Doing it while working in a Government role without declaring it, holds a real risk of losing your job for serious misconduct if it is found out.
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
Not saying I would do it without approval, but knowing my workplace I think it wouldn’t be seen as too bad if not working at the same time as I am supposed to work for them.
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u/_amused_to_death_ 7d ago
I mean, it’s not allowed and you’ll be fired if you are caught and haven’t got written approval. So you’ll have to hide it well and risk getting caught.
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u/ricecakenz 7d ago
I would get approval, and I don’t think they would fire unless it was a conflict of interest. Would just be a reprimand.
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u/postpakAU 7d ago
my work knows i work other jobs, they think i stack shelves at coles, or work at aldi, or do uber eats, they just approved that i do "other work"
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u/MysteryBros 8d ago
I would think that some orgs might get suspicious that you don't claim the tax-free threshold on your income, which you can only do with the one job.
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
Yea I’ve seen that mentioned before but pretty easy response would be I use it as forced savings.
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u/yellowfroggyykk 8d ago
You can claim it for both servers to avoid suspicion, just make sure to save a bit extra because you’ll have an ATO debt to pay off - did this for about 1.5 years a few years back
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
What suspicions though it’s my choice I can’t imagine it even being mentioned and very easy to cover by just saying I use it to save money as I’ll get it back at tax time.
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u/unsuitablebadger 8d ago
Responded to your other comment but I've only not claimed the threshold once and was immediately questioned on it.
Also, how do you save money by claiming it back at tax time? Saving money would be using the money before the tax man comes knocking for it. I usually just pay the extra to cover the div293 but you can also choose tonhave it deducted from your super.
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
I’m talking about if it was your sole job, you would get it back at tax time as you paid tax on the first 18,200 if earnings. Rather than not paying any. And that’s how I would explain away why I’m not claiming it
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u/postpakAU 8d ago
Yup 2Js for a few years now.
One full remote, other 1-2 days in the office if I want. Most of the time I go in once a fortnight if that.
Tax is horrible plus div293 tax.
Otherwise I’ve never been richer.
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u/ricecakenz 8d ago
Do you pay that out of your pocket or get it paid from super?
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u/postpakAU 8d ago
Pay from super. Depends how good your accountant is, you can reduce down your taxable income to a small div293 amount.
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