What is Moonlighting? Is it Legal and Ethical Practice or not?

With the widespread availability of remote jobs and fast internet, the practice of working multiple jobs, also known as moonlighting, is increasing in the IT industry and has become common. Employee moonlighting has long been an issue in the information technology industry for long time. While most Indian IT firms are silently concerned about it, companies such as Wipro have been outspoken about the issue on public platforms.

Wednesday evening, as the celebration was coming to a close, the company’s chairman, Rishad Premji, announced that over 300 employees had inadvertently been working for a few company’s competitors and that measures had been taken to remove them from their employment. He summarised his most recent claim that moonlighting is a complete breach of integrity “in its deepest form.” Let’s start with a definition of employee moonlighting and why employers are concerned about it.

What is Moonlighting?

Moonlighting is the process where an individual is working multiple jobs along with one full-time job. Companies have severely objected to such malpractice, stating that employees who have multiple jobs become less innovative and productive. Some businesses, such as the online food delivery start-up, Swiggy, have announced that their employees will be able to work outside of office hours and on weekends. However, IT firms such as Infosys, IBM, TCS and Wipro have spoken out against it.

Since the work-from-home or variant work model has become the new normal in the IT sector as a result of COVID-19, most IT employees prefer jobs that allow them to work remotely on a full-time basis. While WFH has proven to be both more efficient and stress-free for both employees and employers, a few techies have taken advantage of these benefits and accepted offers from various companies while working on several (mostly 2) jobs all at the same time. The income must be massive but at the expense of mental and physical strain on employees. As if that wasn’t enough, some people have taken on more than one job and are getting their work done through intermediaries by hiring inexpensive employees secretly to carry out their duties.

What Did Wipro Say about this Practice?

The topic of people working part-time in the technology industry has received a lot of attention, “Wipro CEO Rishad Premji clarified the situation in a recent tweet. Without a doubt, this is cheating. The company’s president, Rishad Premji, announced as the celebration came to an end on Wednesday night that over 300 employees had inadvertently been working for a few company’s competitors, and therefore Wipro decided to terminate them from their job. He summed up his most recent claim that holding two jobs simultaneously constitutes a flagrant violation of integrity.

 It is not simply the viewpoint of one Technology Company; because most IT companies are facing similar problems, they all have the same opinion. However, technicians have responded unfavourably to this remark, saying that if Executives and the chairman can take on different positions and be well compensated, why can’t employees? Some have used the claim that when a recession occurs, companies become callous and unconcerned about their employees as evidence for moonlighting.

It appears to be a continuing discussion, as neither employees nor businesses appear to be acting rationally. The situation, however, can be managed through strict legal agreements that require full-time employees to take freelance jobs that do not violate the employer’s business information confidentiality. Employers must also recognise that dismissing or punishing employees will not solve the problem. They must come up with a novel solution.

Why are IT Companies against Moonlighting?

While doing two or more jobs simultaneously can be a high-tech approach to supplement your income, it is bad for programmers’ physical and mental health because they have to put in more time to complete the responsibilities of two jobs. Tech businesses are against dual employment and view it as dishonest for a number of reasons.

To begin with, despite completing all tasks on the job, taking on a double workload reduces employee performance both in the workplace and makes it challenging for them to achieve deadlines at either job. The second most important reason is information leakage. It is evident that you can get similar sorts of projects with defined expertise; thus, technicians have been accepting jobs from competitors of the first employers. As a result, the information is leaked.

Another drawback of moonlighting is that employees already avoid going to their offices personally, let alone prolonging their hours for projects with deadlines. Companies are finding it challenging to manage the aforementioned situation because employees have started to complain about their employers as soon as they are forced to focus more on projects.

Infosys also has alerted its employees not to work in other companies without formally informing HR. NG Subramaniam, the chief operating officer (CFO) of Tata Consultancy Services^[1], has described it as an ethical issue. Infosys emphasised that all employees should study their employment contracts before accepting another job, one of the HR letters that were delivered to Infosys staff on a regular basis. Swiggy, a food tech startup, was the first to announce an internal policy enabling its employees to work on jobs or projects outside their stable jobs at the company during their off-hours. However, side projects at startups are commonplace.

Is it Ethical or Not?

The Indian IT sectors are divided on the subject of moonlighting. While some think it’s unethical, others believe it is important. Rishad Premji, Wipro’s chairman, is adamant about his views. On the other hand, Mohandas Pai completely disagreed with Wipro’s views and actions related to moonlighting. The former director of Infosys doesn’t particularly view moonlighting as “being dishonest.” Now that I am free, I can do whatever I want. “In an employment contract made between me and an employer in which I am paid to work for ‘n’ the fixed hours each day.”

CP Gurnani, Managing Director of Tech Mahindra, claimed that the issue was “not pervasive.” He continued by predicting that his business would “create a policy” permitting workers to hold two jobs”. “However, be truthful about it and talk to us about it,” Gurnani stated at a conference. CEO of TCS, N. Ganapathy Subramaniam, also addressed moonlighting as an “ethical issue.” He claims that companies can face long-term losses from judgments like these that are made for short-term profit.

Is Moonlighting Illegal or Legal?

In India, moonlighting is not completely prohibited by the law. Section 60 of the Factories Act of 1948 prevents the dual jobs of adult factory workers. According to section 2 (s) of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, or section 2(zero) of the Industrial Relations Code 2020, a “worker” is any person appointed in any company to work for such remuneration, regardless of whether the terms of employment are implied or expressed.

Whenever a service certificate is given to a person employed in accordance with the Industrial Employment Standing Order Act of 1946 (which also applies to the IT and ITES sectors), it implies that such employee was fully employed with the company from the date of joining of jobs to the agreed date of employment, not for eight hours per day. Section 65 of the Bombay Shops and Establishment Act also prohibits double employment, which means neither the employee nor any employer may work in either establishment when the employee is still on annual leave.

Conclusion:

With the vexing matter now in the limelight, some industry analysts have advised employers to consider additional safeguards to protect company secrets and operational strategies, particularly where employees work remotely. According to analysts, companies may also tighten up on exclusivity clauses in employment contracts. CorpHR is one of India’s prime recruitment firms that offer AI-based recruitment solutions. 

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