INTRODUCTION:
Moonlighting is nothing but doing one or more jobs besides the regular job. As work from home (WFH) concept got increased, escalated and extended during the pandemic, employees took it (moonlighting) as an extra source of earning and also for pursuing their passionate jobs. Some say it’s simply risking one’s career by deciding on making more money by working for more than one company in secret, whereas some say, a needful and helpful situation helping themselves in not just earning more but learning more as well. Looking straight into the situation keeping aside the employee’s and employer’s arguments, there are laws and policies which will help in understanding more about whether moonlighting is ethical or unethical. Each person has their understanding of this term.
WHY DID IT BECOME A BUZZWORD IN 2022:
Firstly, this has become a trend in the USA where people started working extra hours at other companies. But this is not a new thing to be discussed in India for the daily wage labour till employees of state and central governments have been doing this for ages by now, like school teachers taking classes in private institutes and home tuitions. Adding to this the pandemic helped more to search for more opportunities to work and earn as a consultant or freelancer. As some companies have started firing employees involved in moonlighting this has become a buzzword.
EMPLOYEE’S PERCEPTION:
Now let’s see how an employee looks at moonlighting.
- Low Income and Rising Inflation:
Most of the young Indian freshers who got into IT companies and the long-term working employees are getting insufficient packages unlike foreign company payrolls and incentives, which cannot reach up to their needs in present times, where the prices are hiking to the sky. Also, the insecure feeling employees have towards their employers that they are being used but not given the credit that their work is worth. And when asked the same the employees have let out their heated thoughts about it and that is what letting not just freshers but also experienced get into moonlighting.
- Earning Side income is needed to ensure financial independence and entrepreneurship:
Employees from recent generations are very much anxious about building a strong financial structure for themselves at the earliest. The FIRE Movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) is getting more famous and followed by many young employees to make sure of their financial independence. Many employees working from the office stay in metro cities where the cost of living is more facing difficulty in
savings. For future savings or for a start-up where there is less success rate in achieving, needs more earnings as possible alongside the actual earnings, where this moonlighting comes into the picture.
- Covid-19 Pandemic on IT:
It is when the work-from-home (WFH) trend has raised to its peaks and many looked out for parallel employment for there were mass layoffs in this sector along with a freeze in hiring. Employees had more time compared to office timings which lead to working more for their hobbies where some worked eyes opened day and night fearing huge layoffs. Looking at the serious changes happening in companies leads employees to go for moonlighting.
- Theft of Appreciation and Lack of Work Recognition:
For the employer doesn’t give enough supposed appreciation which the employee should get for his/her work, comes this psychologically depressed behaviour which let them think to get out of that place and step into which gives them that recognition, respect and confident personality (by pursuing their passions).
- To upgrade their skill and use extra time creatively:
In the current scenario where everything is digitalizing, one needs to upgrade their skill continuously and keep up with the current technology trends. Because of WFH the time they spend in travel to their office will be saved and can be used in side gigs.
COMPANIES AND EMPLOYER’S PERCEPTION:
According to Indeed Hiring Tracker, Moonlight is not the same when compared to each sector. Where only 19% of employees are going behind moonlighting and the rest 81% are looking at it as unethical. Sectors like Pharmaceuticals, Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Manufacturing say the same about moonlighting that it is unethical and a violation of the contract. But when it comes to the IT sector, the whole point of moonlighting changes and the percentage differs by more than 40%, which is favourable to moonlighting.
A survey by Valuvox states the fear of layoffs made 37% of employees seek moonlighting and 27% for side income. The perception of employers is a bit different and says that employees of 31% are not being serious about the work that was assigned to them whereas 23% were having plenty of leisure time to look sideways.
RISKS:
The risks of moonlighting can be seen on both ends, the employee and the employer. An employee can be terminated from the company or from that particular post to the lower level when it’s the IT and government sectors. Coming to factories, pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries can be more than terminating, like taking
serious action filing an FIR and mulct. Yet that doesn’t cover the damage the company would get. In the IT sector, the damage would be more if the employee worked for the competing company moonlighting. As moonlighting is not the same for every sector, each sector has its ways and conditions for taking action against those who were moonlighting.
LAWS:
There’s no particular law concerning moonlighting in IT companies. It’s the terms and conditions the employees accept and sign before joining, that they work only for that very company. When found that they were moonlighting, according to the terms and conditions either they will be terminated or get dismissed and some companies may go for legal aid concerning how much damage that employee did to that company. But related to factories and industries in India, section 60 of the Factories Act, of 1948 has a clear note about the restriction on double employment.
CONCLUSION:
Knowing the fact that every coin has two sides in which each side has its importance to be a valid currency, the employer says that the coin should resemble only one country which means working for one company from both ends, i.e., extra hours instead of moonlighting. But the employee views differ, looking at the coin as work and the sides as professions, professions of passions. Whether to say it’s ethical or unethical, things that should be taken into consideration differ in sectors. As India is known for its diversity of cultures or cultural diversity, many traditional arts and works still reside. Many employees coming from such traditional art working families do practice them after working hours which can be considered as moonlighting, but not unethical. Likewise, many artists, teachers, doctors and engineers are moonlighting which is neither unethical nor illegal.
Author:
Ms. Mary Yekula, Business Psychologist
References :
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/background-checks-and-more-how- it-companies-are-detecting-moonlighting-122111000353_1.html
https://news.cleartax.in/know-all-about-moonlighting-in-india/8584/
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/new-updates/moonlighting-what-is-it-what- triggered-the-debate-and-what-is-happening/articleshow/94393239.cms?from=mdr
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/tech-mahindra-to-come-out-with- moonlighting-policy-this-month-report-122111501342_1.html
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/explained-what-is- moonlighting-and-is-it-legal-in-india/articleshow/93704728.cms
https://www.financialexpress.com/jobs/moonlighting-and-its-negative-impact-on-the- employee-and-the-employer/2758465/
