Is Moonlighting safe for you?
What is Moonlighting?
In today’s world where everything is expensive and resources are limited and on the top of it there’s a rat race where everyone is running to secure as much as they can. Amidst such situation no matter how much you earn but a desire to earn more never dies. Everyone wants to earn some extra more than they are already earning. Moonlighting is a product of these circumstances, most people do it out of need others do it learning and exploring purposes also.
Moonlighting refers to the practice of doing a second job outside normal business hours, it may be a secret job or sometimes the primary company may be aware it. An employee may work a normal 9-to-5 job as a primary source of income but work nights at a different job in order to earn extra money or current package is not enough to sustain a family. Moonlighting could be either a penchant or predicament.
What is Moonlighting in Tech Industry?
The practice of taking up a second job during or outside of regular office hours is on the rise in the tech industry as well, especially with work from home. Some people enjoy moonlighting in order to utilize the extra skills or interests they have which they can’t explore in the current company or utilize their skills. Many employees are versatile enough exploring parallel interest areas.
Is Freelance considered Moonlighting?
Moonlighting refers to a situation where a person is working a side job, be a part-time job, freelancing, or even running their own side business outside of their full-time job. Freelancers are even outside the obligations of the companies and work on the set parameters of various companies all together.
Is moonlighting illegal in India?
There are no specific laws in India regarding dual jobs for IT professionals or people working in positions that are administrative or supervisory. As per legal analysts and lawyers, employees in the IT sector are not bound by any overreaching laws restricting dual employment.
In India, a person may take up one more job without breaking any law. But someone with similar set of jobs could result in concerns about violation of confidentiality. A majority of companies include the single employment clause in the employee contracts and as per company policy it’s difficult to go for extra.
Under the employment law in India, there is no specific provision that talks about the legality of dual employment in India. Section 60 of the Factories Act, 1948 talks about the restriction on double employment in India, on people working in factories.
Companies and their stand
In recent times, multiple startups launched by former Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato, Ola and Delhivery executives were possible due to unofficial moonlighting policies that allowed employees to run side projects. And gradually other companies are following the footsteps to let their employees go with parallel.
On the contrary Indian IT giant Wipro has sacked nearly around 300 employees for ‘moonlighting’ and has clearly taken it’s stand against ‘Moonlighting’ culture, Its chairman Rishad Premji said –
“the company has no place for any employee who chooses to work directly with rivals while being on Wipro payrolls.”
Many other tech companies are also seeking legal help to prevent this culture.
Inference:
If the employee is unable to withstand the expense pressure after earning from the current company, he would definitely find for the second option to cope up with the ongoing situation. If the employee possesses extra skills which he can’t exhibit in the primary organization, then he would try finding the suitable platform provided he keeps primary company’s integral secrets and policies intact. But instead of diverting the attention to multiple jobs, taking one high paying job and giving 100% to the company can be more beneficial and fruitful in longer loan.
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