Moonlighting & The Indian IT Industry

What is Moonlighting?

Moonlighting refers to taking up a second job or multiple other work assignments (gigs) apart from one’s full-time job. In other words, Moonlighting is the practice of working on a second job outside the normal business hours. Therefore, an employee may work on a normal 9-to-5 job as a primary source of income but work on other shifts at a different job in order to earn additional income.

While the phenomenon exists in other nations, it is a contentious issue in India, particularly within the IT sector. Though Moonlighting isn’t new in India, it’s become more rampant post-pandemic, with employees working remotely, infrequent or relaxed employer supervision, and increased time and bandwidth for employees to take up another job.

Regulatory Provisions

Moonlighting is not defined under any statute in Indian employment laws. Moonlighting is also not necessarily dual employment, which is a formal employer-employee relationship, complete with legal obligations like minimum wage, provident fund, gratuity etc. It could also be side hustles or freelancing which can be with or without the knowledge of the primary employer.

There is no law that prevents dual employment, is what IT employees’ unions are saying. They argue that in the absence of overtime pay and regulation of employment contracts, IT employees have the right to disconnect from their primary job after the committed work hours and engage in other projects either for additional income or for developing skills, or to pursue other interests outside their job.

However, Moonlighting could be considered cheating if an employee’s contract calls for non-compete and single employment, which is the situation with the majority of conventional employment contracts. Nevertheless, it is not cheating if the employment contracts do not have such a clause or provide relaxations.

How did it gain traction?

Moonlighting gained ground after the onset of COVID-19 triggered ‘Work from Home’. Before COVID-19, physical presence at office acted like a blockade. The overnight shift to remote working meant no more long commutes, bringing more fluid work schedules. Work schedules, at the beginning of the pandemic, were not uniform and lean periods in between offered some leeway. Plenty of gigs, from website development to app creation, were up for grabs. Being short duration stints, these one-off projects were also seen as quick means to earn incremental income. Since they did not involve full-time engagement nor a full-time agreement, persons opting for such gigs did not see them as a direct conflict of interest with their existing jobs.

Concerns against Moonlighting

• Confidentiality

The primary concern companies have against Moonlighting is data and confidentiality breach. Moonlighting may, knowingly or not, cause employees to divulge trade secrets while working in a similar industry and job.

• Employee Productivity

Where employees work for long hours, the second job may cause the employee to become distracted, unproductive, and neglect responsibilities of their primary job due to physical fatigue.

• Usage of Resources

Employees may use the resources of their primary job for their second job which would logically be unfair to the employer. In such a case, the employer loses more than what he stands to gain from the employee.

Stance by Industry Leaders

The issue of Moonlighting seems to have the industry divided. For some, it’s unethical while others call it the need of the hour. Tata Consultancy Services’ Chief Operating Officer (CFO) NG Subramaniam has termed it an ethical issue. While he said that is important to show empathy while dealing with an issue like Moonlighting as an action against it can ruin a person’s career, he further emphasized that nothing prevents the country’s biggest IT services exporter from taking action against employees for Moonlighting when it has evidence. Infosys has also warned its employees against taking up a second job without letting the company know. In one of the recent emails sent by the HR department to employees, Infosys highlighted that all its employees must read their employment contracts before taking up an alternative job.

Wipro has sacked around 300 employees for ‘Moonlighting’ as the IT services firm has adopted an iron-fisted stand against staffers taking a second job after work hours. Chairman Rishad Premji said the company has no place for any employee who chooses to work directly with rivals while being on Wipro payrolls.

L&T Tech has treaded a safer path and taken a more nuanced position, stating that though the company is against the practice, it is fine with it if the second job is unrelated to what the employees do at the company.

Few companies have issued dire warnings to employees not to work for other firms, or are trying to increase worker monitoring. Other business leaders are taking a more relaxed line, arguing that young people are only trying to get ahead. What’s clear is that, as technology opens up more avenues for ambitious young workers to sell their skills and top up their income, companies will need to work out what they will and will not allow workers to do in a way that makes sense to both parties. However, for an industry such as the IT Industry, Moonlighting can be a worrying phenomenon, as there is a high possibility of employee integrity being compromised and the data privacy of the clients being jeopardized.

References:

• Mint
• Outlook India
• The Economic Times

This article is solely intended towards informational purposes and should not be considered otherwise, what so ever.