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I work two jobs, one is an unpaid internship and the other is paid. Both jobs are fairly new and I haven't received my work schedule yet for the paid job. My boss for the internship is asking when i'm available but I don't know how to answer since I still haven't received a work schedule from the other one.

I am currently a university student and I'm employed as a store front employee to earn some money. The internship is related to my career path and what I look forward to doing in the future. It's to provide me with experience for future work positions.

p.s. nothing in any of my contracts states I cannot work two jobs

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  • IANAL: but is this even allowed? I understand the "unpaid" part is relevant here, but still, it's a form of employment.
    – Sourav Ghosh
    Mar 25, 2019 at 7:23
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    @SouravGhosh Why wouldn't having multiple jobs not be allowed? There are people that have 2-3 paid jobs or more to get by.... As long as there's no clause in either of the contracts stating that it's not allowed.
    – Xander
    Mar 25, 2019 at 7:36
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    @Xander " As long as there's no clause in either of the contracts" Yes, that's the essence of it. People break minor traffic rules without any consequences, sure, that does not mean they are allowed. Emergency vehicles break traffic rule, that does not mean it's not allowed. Context matters.
    – Sourav Ghosh
    Mar 25, 2019 at 7:58
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    Would you be willing to give up one of the jobs if one of your managers is unwilling to accept an unknown / unpredictable schedule in your other job? (Because it makes their ability to known when you are free for them tricky to determine)
    – user34587
    Mar 25, 2019 at 10:46
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    @DavidK both jobs are very different. One is as a sales associate (paid) and the internship position is an assistant event coordinator
    – Nadin
    Mar 25, 2019 at 20:50

4 Answers 4

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My boss for the internship is asking when i'm available but I don't know how to answer since I still haven't received a work schedule from the other one.

Just be up front about it.

Something like "Boss, I don't know my availability quite yet. I haven't received my work schedule from my paid job. Once I get that, I'll let you know right away."

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    +1 Yes, simple and straight-forward. Just be honest and don't over-complicate things.
    – David K
    Mar 25, 2019 at 12:44
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Your situation is never fun. If two companies, or two projects, want to control your work hours then you have to do a lot of work to manage the situation. The best thing is when both have some flexibility during the setting up of the work schedule, but then never deviate from the negotiated schedule.

You need to decide if this can't work which job you will pick. You have to decide how much you can push one to decide on your schedule quickly, or which can be pushed to accept the leftovers.

This is true even if both allow the other employment. They can allow it but then not believe they have to cooperate. They can say yes you can have that part time job or internship, but you still have to be here 9-5.

Sometimes the internship is the most important one. If you must complete the internship to graduate, then those hours are the most important. Sometimes the full time job will win. Sometimes doing both is impossible. I had a family member who one summer had to drop their summer job because the academic internship required too many hours when matched against a job who had no consistent schedule. The next year, the internship was flexible and they were able to do both.

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As long as both of the contracts you have doesn't limit you to that single employment, perhaps the best route would be to just inform both employers of the others existence. Let one of them know that you have another paid job because you need the money, and let the other one know that if it would be possible, you'd like to be informed a little bit earlier about your schedules.

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"nothing in any of my contracts states I cannot work two jobs"

That is not enough. There are rules and regulations in the company which you have to comply with. There are also national laws.

Your best course of action is to let both your employers know about your double employment. If possible, get updates of the contracts, specifying explicitly that another job at another company is allowed.

Otherwise, you may end up with accusations of conflicts of interests, espionage and God knows what else. Play it safe, and there should be no real problems for you.

Some food for thought: assume that now everything plays out nice, everybody is happy. However, there is no guarantee that future will not bring changes. What if both jobs will require you at the same time? Which will you choose? If the employers know about your situation from the beginning, they might be more sympathetic in the future, when some conflicts may appear.

NOTE: either of the companies (or both) may refuse to allow you to have 2 (or more) jobs. In that case, you need to be prepared to give up one of them - think in advance about your priorities.

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    I think this answer is a bit of an overreaction, particularly if the two jobs are not related. To me the OP's situation is more likely an unpaid internship in their desired field, and a part-time job working retail or as a server so they can pay bills. Yes, just be honest with both managers, but there's no need to get new contracts unless they put up a fight.
    – David K
    Mar 25, 2019 at 12:42
  • Yes, it may be an over-reaction. But hey, they say: "better safe than sorry"! And you really make a lot of assumptions, about pretty much everything.
    – virolino
    Mar 25, 2019 at 13:01

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