So I am supposed to be starting a new job beginning of June, this is when I advised them id be available..

However my current employers have said contractually I cant finish until the end of June; but they are happy for me to start the new one provided im still on hand for any questions etc which I agreed to (its all very civil) i say they, this is my line manager, not HR or management.

question is, how does this work legally, regarding tax etc if I start a new job while still on another companies payroll? I was kind of hoping I could take home double pay for the month of June – is this at all feasible?

Yes but it might cause your new employer to ask questions. You would be PAYE with your old employer and either on the emergency rate or pay no tax with your new employer and then have to submit a self assessment at the end of the year. As I said though i doubt your new employer or their payroll department will be very happy with the arrangement and they will know as you won’t get a P45 until you get your final pay from your previous employer.

When you say “beginning of June” do you mean you’re meant to be there in about the next week? Sounds like it’s time to upset your old employer (although you might be screwed if you’ve made a mess of your notice period) or humbly apologise your new employer for the mistake and leaving it to the last minute

Been an age since I’ve been involved with it, but emergency tax can be a nightmare

Has your current employer said they will be paying you to “answer questions”?

How much notice do you have to give? When did you give notice? That’ll determine when you can start new job…if start of June then your line manager is pulling a swift one…if it is end of June then you need to let new employer know…

Legally or morally?

Why the overlap, did you screw up? If it were me, I’d have engineered a free holiday in between roles. 😁

It sounds to me like they’re offering to let you leave early on the proviso that, well, as you say, you’ll field occasional questions like “what’s that password?” I would be astonished if they were offering you full pay whilst working for someone else, the chances of you drawing two salaries are surely vanishingly small. Assuming even that your line manager has the authority to override your contract in the first place.

In practice, if you were to say “no thanks” and just leave, would they pursue it? Probably not, but burning bridges is rarely a good idea.

Not sure why everyone above is being so negative… Lets say you had accrued two weeks holiday with your current employer, you booked your two weeks holiday and then handed in your notice so that your holiday ran for the last two weeks of your employment (notice period). You then advised your new employer you were available to start work for them at the start of your holiday.

As long as you’re transparent to your new employer, along the lines of I’m still employed or being paid in the first month/period of employment for you so I wont be able to provide a P45 until the second month/period I really can’t see the problem.

Similarly what about someone who has two or more part time jobs, I’m sure HR can figure out PAYE around that scenario.

Of course the OP can start before he gets a P45. According to what I hear on the news, thousands of people have 2 or 3 jobs and this is all managed legitimately. Just give the P45 to the new employer when it arrives and everything will be sorted out.

Is this not what a P46 is for.

Many people end up in this situation and don’t want to disclose to new employer. Especially when they are being shown the door politely with gardening leave at previous role. Up to you to resolve with HMRC though.

If it were me, I’d have engineered a free holiday in between roles

Free holiday? A pay-free holiday, I guess?

yeah completely my cock-up. id unwittingly activated a clause in my contract that doubled my notice period, so when i interviewed for the new one i gave them a date id be available then we agreed a start date.

so i googled P46. its been replaced by another form now but appears to be just the ticket – trouble is im not really comfortable not disclosing the situation to the new employer. i would like to be transparent with them – but i dont really want them to postpone my start.

Free holiday? A pay-free holiday, I guess?

A holiday without burning leave entitlement. But yes.