With the holiday season comes a higher demand for seasonal workers — which works out well with the increase in spending that happens around the holidays. Between gift giving, holiday travel, and big holiday meals, many of us see extra strain on our budgets, which makes this the perfect time to pick up a second job.
Even without the holiday season, an estimated 7.8 million Americans have multiple jobs. However, have you ever thought about how a second job might affect your workers’ compensation?
Unfortunately, North Carolina workman’s comp law doesn’t really reward anyone for having a second job. Let’s say that you work 30 hours a week at a bookstore where you make $12 an hour. Then for the holiday season you pick up an additional job at a shopping mall where you work 20 hours a week and make $8 an hour. So in total you’re making $520 a week.
If you injured yourself while working your job at the mall, workers’ compensation would cover you for two-thirds of your weekly salary at that job. Assuming you weren’t earning any additional salary (bonuses, tips, etc.), your workers’ comp benefits would be $96 a week.
Okay, so you only get $96 a week for your second job. But would you get any benefits if your injury caused you to be unable to work the first job as well? Unfortunately not. In North Carolina, you’re only covered for the job you were working when you got injured.
This is definitely something to take into consideration if you take on a second job — particularly if it’s going to be a high-risk, low-paying job. Of course there are other things to take into consideration, such as personal finances. At Oxner + Permar, we care about our clients and our community, and we want to make sure that everyone is making employment decisions with as much knowledge as possible. Call us so we can help.
