“Remember – NO TWO-TIMING – NO MOONLIGHTING (sic),” reads an email sent out by the Human Resources (HR) department of IT giant Infosys.
The email added that the company “strictly discourages dual employment” and said that moonlighting could lead to termination.
What is moonlighting?
Moonlighting is the practice of taking up a second job during or outside the normal business hours of primary employment. Most private organisations have policies in place that prohibit this and take strict actions against the employees taking up outside gigs. However, some firms allow employees to work a second job, especially if they are on a contract basis.
Why do people need two jobs?
The second job often comes in handy for employees if their income in the primary work is low and they need additional resources to meet their everyday needs. In some cases, a person might consider parallel employment to upskill and pursue a job profile that fuels their passion.
In certain cases, people have additional time in hand. If their primary work does not keep them occupied throughout the day, they want to put those free hours to good use.
Also read: After the Great Resignation comes Quiet Quitting: Why doing less at work is okay
Is moonlight legal in India?
In India, you cannot hold two jobs. Bhagyashree Pancholy, legal advisor, All Remotely told Moneycontrol, “As per the Labour Law in India, if you are fully employed, you cannot have your own business or even work elsewhere. However, people have found ways to circumvent this.”
Why did Infosys warn against moonlighting?
According to the IT company, the shift to remote work has led to a rise in moonlighting. The email sent out by HR said that it has become easier, especially for IT employees, to hold a second job without their primary employer knowing. “This can pose serious challenges to our business such as impact on productivity, job performance, risk of data and confidential information leakage, etc,” it read.
Infosys’ offer letter states that an employee cannot take up full-time or part-time employment in any business activity without the consent of the firm. Any violation of the clause could lead to termination.
Has there been a rise in moonlighting?
The IT sector has seen a spike in this practice. A survey by Kotak Institutional Equities of 400 IT/ITeS employees in July revealed that 65 per cent of respondents either were engaged in part-time opportunities during work from home (WFH) or knew a colleague who was, according to a report by Moneycontrol.
Have other companies warned against moonlighting?
In August, Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji slammed the rise in moonlighting trend in the tech industry.
“There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple,” he wrote on Twitter.
There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.
— Rishad Premji (@RishadPremji) August 20, 2022
Software company Birlasoft’s CEO Dharmender Kapoor was informed of one employee who was working at seven firms at the same time.
“It’s hard to catch such cases,” he told The Times of India in February when the case was first reported.
Does any Indian firm encourage moonlighting?
Yes. Food delivery giant Swiggy introduced a moonlighting policy for its employees in August, which allowed them to take up external projects.
Under the policy, Swiggy employees can take up external projects on a pro-bono basis (without charge) or economic consideration based on internal approvals. This could include activity outside of office hours or on weekends that does not impact their productivity on the full-time job or have a conflict of interest with Swiggy’s business in any way.
The firm chalked out guidelines that employees have to follow while taking up moonlighting projects. A second job that interferes with working hours at Swiggy or poses a risk of conflict of interest is subject to internal approval.
Swiggy said in a blog post that the moonlighting policy is part of its efforts to be employee-centric. The guidelines have been designed in a way that makes it simpler for employees to undertake the gigs.
Girish Menon, head of human resources at the food-delivery firm, said, “Swiggy has always strived to understand the diverse aspirations of its employees and to design its organisational policies to suit their evolving needs. With the Moonlighting Policy, our goal is to encourage employees to pursue their passion without any constraints due to their full-time employment with us.”
Swiggy’s move comes as companies face high attrition and a demand for more flexibility from employees.
Edtech company UpGrad allows employees to teach at other institutes as guest faculty. However, it is strictly on a case-to-case basis. Cofounder Mayank Kumar told The Economic Times that there were no plans to institute it as a policy. “It would be extremely difficult to monitor,” he said.
According to Chandrika Pasricha, founder of freelance platform Flexing It, companies in the hospitality and travel sector allowed their employees to take up gigs during the pandemic because they could not utilise them fully. However, some have withdrawn that option, reports ET.
Is this a recent trend?
No, it is not.
Startups have been formed as the founders were moonlighting (Flipkart, Freshworks); many consultants moonlight before they go fully independent; teachers moonlight by giving tuitions, and many employees have their side projects or hustles, Nisha Ramchandani, manager-outreach at Axilor Ventures told Moneycontrol.
With inputs from agencies
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