Extra Income - Continued

Taken after a race in the fall of 2009

I realized after I posted my entry on "Extra Income" that I left out some information.  In order for my DH to coach, his boss (old and present) had to consent to him taking on the extra job.  Cross country practice is at 6:30 a.m.  He has Middle School and High School kids getting up early in the morning and running, which in and of itself is a minor miracle.  Practice is over at 7:30 and sometimes my DH has to remain at the practice site if a parent is late picking up their child.  He is supposed to be at work at 8:00 but during cross country season his boss knows he may not get to work until 8:15.  Since my DH is a salaried employee, this isn't a problem.

On the days that the team has a meet, he takes an afternoon off from work and uses half a vacation day in order to get ready for the meets and coach at the meets.  He gets a certain number of paid vacation days each year.  Three-fourths of those vacation days are spent going on vacation as a family and/or days off at home.  The remainder are used as half vacation days that he uses when there is a cross country meet.

All of the meets, except of course for the home meet, are in other towns and require a trip on a school bus with the team.  He gets home from meets at around 8:30 at night and then spends the next hour or so writing up the results of the meet and e-mailing them to area radios and newspapers. 

On Fridays he has what he calls "Friday Fun Days" and the team spends the morning having a scavenger hunt or some running silly games that they play.  I in turn provide breakfast which is muffins for the team.  I bake 9 dozen muffins every Thursday afternoon for the team for breakfast the next day. 

He coaches because he loves it and he wants to be a good role model to students.  He would not be able to coach if his boss hadn't consented.  His employer values employees being involved in the community and he knows that any work that my DH misses, will be made up.  It is not a problem and it means that his boss trusts him and vice versa. 

Many employers will not allow an employee to "moonlight" or take on another job without their approval.  My DH's coaching job lasts three months out of the year, so it is not a major concern to his employer. 

The extra income is nice to have, there is no doubt about it.  The money doesn't just fall into our laps as my DH puts in a lot of hours in his coaching job.  It is work and it means that we don't get as much done around the house during cross country season. Fortunately it has been a family affair as our youngest son (the only child remaining at home) runs cross country so he is with his dad at practices and at meets.  I in turn attend the meets and help out.  Our oldest son is married and when he was in high school my DH was his coach.  Today our oldest son began a new teaching job at a rival school district and he is also coaching cross country.  I can hardly wait for the first meet where his team competes against our team.  It should be a lot of fun.

In the end, if you are considering an extra job such as coaching or tutoring or any job that requires you to be in another workplace, you should always tell your primary employer.  Many times employers do not want their employees to moonlight as they don't want them to be tired and sleepy for the primary job.