Friends, recently you all must have come across the term “Moonlighting” in the newspapers. If you go by the dictionary the meaning of Moonlighting, it says ‘ having a second job, typically secretly at night, in addition to one’s regular employment.
The Information Technology (IT) industry has recently seen a debate ignite around ‘moonlighting’ with polarizing views and question around legality.
The concept of ‘moonlighting’ is in the news, as Infosys, the IT giant has issued a word of caution to its employees against this practice. ‘Moonlighting’ or ‘two timing’ as the Infosys referred to the concept, is when employees take up side job apart from their primary full-time job, in most cases to earn extra money or simply to make ends meet. The word ‘moonlighting’ is said to have originated from the fact that industrial workers would opt for such jobs in the night after completing their day shifts in the primary job, thus working under the ‘moonlight’.
Now, when country’s largest IT giant Infosys has started talking about ‘moonlighting’, it has started creating a significant buzz in the market. The firm has issued warning to its employees that any violation of its non-moonlighting code will trigger disciplinary action as per contract clauses ‘which could even lead to termination of employment’. “ No two timing- no moonlighting”. The company has warned, saying that “ dual employment is not permitted as per-Employee Handbook and code of Conduct”. It has also asked employees to immediately report any such moonlighting instances. This is not the first time the issue of moonlighting has cropped up, earlier Wipro Chairman had highlighted the issue and equated it to “cheating”.
With the issue gaining limelight, the companies might also start taking extra safeguards to protect proprietary information and operating models, especially where employees are working remotely. Employers may also take tougher stance on exclusivity clauses in employment contracts. Now all IT industry top names are against the concept. One of the former director of Infosys however disagreed with the categorization of moonlighting as cheating, saying that employees have a contract with companies to work for specific number of hours in a day. What they do after this specific duration is up to them and employees have freedom to do what they want. Even Pune based union Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has condemned the employee communication by Infosys, terming it as “illegal and unethical” saying that related clauses are arbitrary”. ‘ What employees do outside working hours is their prerogative’.
Now the next question arises ‘ Is moonlighting illegal in India’? In India, dual employment is restricted for some types of employees like factory workers, employees of some shops and commercial establishments governed by state-wise laws. However, most laws regarding pursuing a second line of work along with the primary job are for workmen. 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 experts and analysts, employees in the IT sector are not bound by any overreaching laws restricting dual employment. However, they might be bound by their contracts with employers with regard to confidentiality violation, single employment clause, or non-compete clauses. In such cases, moonlighting may be considered cheating. Without such clauses, it can not be considered cheating. Hence, going for a second job is based on the specific contracts, and if they have clauses where compliance can become an issue.
What has actually happened in recent past during Covid pandemic, when many of the employees were working from home, and therefore monitoring them became very difficult. Employees generally take up other jobs to augment their income or to work for their passion, learn new skills sets in area of related technical field. However, employers are concerned about productivity, data breach, and conflict of interest due to moonlighting activities by their employees.
I my opinion, the work in the IT industry is generally client based, and client wants the IT company to develop any system exclusively for them, and the IT company can not share the same technology and data with someone else. So, if someone starts moonlighting then the employers are afraid that their exclusive data could be leaked, so it justified when IT employers have all such clauses in the contract with employees to maintain their exclusivity.
But if a IT company employee moonlight in some different field, where exclusivity and other technical details are not breached ,then the employee should be allowed to moonlight. Generally a person moonlights for 2 reasons, the first being to augment his income, and the second being to follow his/her passion to learn something new.
It is high time that the government should frame some guidelines/laws in consultations with IT employers and employees union/representatives.
Waiting for your views on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
14th September 2022
Tejinder Singh Sethi
Low entry-level salary has contributed to moonlighting.
If you don’t pay people well, they want to earn more money and here is the easy way of earning well because technology is available…I get paid in dollars very well, I can earn more… and so that is attractive,”
After the last two years of Covid pandemic, a couple of things have happened – there is a sense of insecurity among employees regarding their job which has prompted them to seek more than one employer.