Registering as a Sole Proprietor

[Jasond MIE]

Good day
What is the law regarding signing work off privately if you are employed as an Installation Electrician for a Registered Contracting company?

I was informed that the only way is to register as a sole proprietary with the DOL so that you can sign off work not done under the control of the electrical contractor you are employed at.

I think many registered electricians could benefit from this as then we could legally do private work and sign off the COC.

Just to clarify that when I say private work it is worked performed on my own time and doesn't raise a conflict of interest with my employer.

Thx

[DieterT]

That is a good question. I have not been in this position, but I did know a guy who did CoCs privately when he was registered under the company he was working at.

I do know that it is better to register a company and then register under the company blanket as this forms a buffer if something goes wrong with an installation and all hell breaks loose.
I was T/A for about 2 years before registering my own company. If I remember correctly the old CoCs had a place where the company name could be filled in where under the registered person was registered.

[Dave A]

What is the law regarding signing work off privately if you are employed as an Installation Electrician for a Registered Contracting company?

This is a problem at a number of levels.

First, it is prohibited by the collective agreement applicable to the industry. Clause 36 on outwork is as follows -

36. OUTWORK

(1) No employer shall require or allow any of his employees to undertake work in connection with the Electrical Industry other than to execute work in completion of an order placed with such employer.

(2) No employee whilst in the employ of an employer shall solicit, undertake or perform any work other than on behalf of his own employer in the Electrical Industry, whether for remuneration or not, during or outside of the ordinary hours of work or working days prescribed in clause 7 of this Agreement, save that such employee may carry out work on his own premises outside of normal working hours.

The exception is during a lay-off. Clause 12A.(e). is as follows:

(e) Employees on lay – off may engage in any other employment for remuneration during the duration of the lay – off.

The next point relies entirely on a conversation I had with Chris Greager approximately a year ago (and is therefor subject to confirmation) -
The second challenge is when it comes to registration at DoL, theoretically an accredited person can only be registered as such with one registered contractor at a time. The moment you register with a new registered contractor, your registration with the previous contractor should terminate. However, I am led to believe the DoL is yet to get its contractor registration database up and running properly, so at this point the chances of DoL detecting this without someone filing a complaint are probably slim.

Just as an aside - My personal view is PJs are the bane of every employer's life, and in terms of my employment contract, being caught doing a PJ in a line of work similar to that of the business is an instantly dismissible offence.

[Dave A]

I had probably better mention clause 12A. (g) of the collective agreement in this thread as well, as it seems relevant -

(g) Should an employee find alternative employment during any lay –off period, he must inform the employer within 3 working days of finding such employment.

[Jasond MIE]

Thx Dave

I will get more clarification on this matter as it was a source at the DOL that told me that you can do it if you register as a sole proprietary, but as you said, If you are registered with a company you may only sign off work with them.

And if I have a letter or permission from employer to do private work that isn't in conflict with the work we do etc, is that law so valid.

I will do more research and respond Soon.

[Jasond MIE]

I spoke to the Ecbsa now and they confirmed that if you register as a sole proprietary you may sign off work on a private capacity, he agreed that it is best practice to get permission from your employer as to avoid legalities.

[Dave A]

Thanks Jason. That is very interesting feedback!