Side hustle or cheating? The debate around moonlighting prompts Infosys to act

Call it a side hustle, second job or a gig to make some extra cash, a lot of employers are describing moonlighting as cheating or two-timing. The practice surged among professionals during the pandemic, when working from home opened a window to use extra time for working multiple jobs. Indian techies turned to parallel employment, when IT majors such as Infosys and Wipro reduced variable pay for employees last year.

The fallout

On the other hand Swiggy’s move to allow its employees to take up other gigs under certain conditions sparked off a debate, when Wipro’s Rishad Premji questioned the ethics of moonlighting. Now the human resources department at Infosys has sent an email to employees warning them against ‘two-timing’, to make it clear that the firm doesn’t permit dual employment. Infosys also told its staff that moonlighting can get them fired, since holding multiple jobs can affect productivity and job performance.

What is it?

Moonlighting can be described simply as working for another company without the knowledge of an employer. This can be full-time or part-time, and yes freelance work done at night or during the weekend also counts as moonlighting, so that side-hustle isn’t excluded. The pandemic saw the rise of remote working, where employees saved the time on the commute and stayed in, giving them extra hours to earn more.

The warning by Infosys highlights compliance issues that come with the rise in moonlighting, along with data security issues for IT firms. Companies are concerned after attrition rates hit an all time high of 25 per cent, and a survey by Kotak Institutional Activities, where 65 per cent of IT firm employees admitted to working part-time for another organisation while working from home.

Is it illegal?

Now there are no laws that explicitly prohibit employees from holding other jobs, but at the same time, ethical concerns and questions on confidentiality arise when a person is working for two firms in the same sector. Otherwise individuals are free to do what they want with their time post work hours.