Have you been following news or media lately. Moonlighting is the word that you might have come across? Wondering if its anywhere related to honeymoon or candle light dinner or some sort of money trap activity?
Moonlighting Meaning
In simple words, “Moonlighting refers to second or part time jobs that one does in their free time in addition to regular employment to earn extra pennies”.
Many MNC’s said that employees cannot take up other assignments during business hours or outside of them. The taglines that were used by Infosys were “No two-timing, no moonlighting” and “No double lives”.
Few weeks earlier, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji termed moonlight as “plain and cheating”. Infosys has sent emails to its employees warning them about moonlighting, which is not permitted according to the employee code of conduct. Any violation in this regard will lead to employers taking disciplinary action, which can include termination of employment.
So how did Moonlighting come into picture all of sudden?
Moonlighting became popular during the remote work culture that took place during a 
pandemic with a duration of 2 years, which allowed employees to pursue side projects. A survey suggested that 65 percent of respondents were pursuing part time opportunities. But now that many firms are rolling back work from offices, moonlighting has become a hot topic for debate and has divided the public with their opinions.
Why this is a Concern to anyone or any company?
Most employers do not feel comfortable giving permission to work on other people or companies’ projects when the opportunity to do remote work is given by their regular employment. Recent statements from India’s biggest IT companies suggest that the moonlighting problem has assumed significant proportions.
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According to the Infosys employment contract, dual employment is not permitted and is against the code of conduct.
In the offer letter received by the employees, it states that the employee does not agree to take employment, whether full-time or part-time of any other organization engaged in any form of business activity without the consent of the company.
The consent may be given subject to any terms and conditions that the company may think fit and may be withdrawn at any time at the discretion of the company. In a recent conversation with Infosys EVP and group HR head Krish Shankar, he did not talk directly about moonlighting, side hustles, and gig workforce issues.
However, many companies are now encouraging employees to do internal gigs if they have time to do it and if it interests them. Therefore, they created a platform called Accelerate for external gigs and rewarding people who participate.
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The responses of IT companies to moonlighting are in contrast to some new age Indian companies. Swiggy recently announced that its employees could take up other gigs. But, condition applies that as long as it does not affect their productivity at the food delivery venture and is done outside of office hours.
Now that you understand what is moonlighting, what do you think? is it okie to moonlight or is it not? Do think from both employer and employee perspective and share your views in the comment below.
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