In today’s day and age, where skills and opportunities have become more accessible than ever, moonlighting has seen a surge in more ways than one.
While the ethical and legal aspects of this practice remain a contentious topic of discussion, it is also noteworthy to consider the stance of major employers in India on moonlighting.
Most of the companies in India have a clear stance against moonlighting. Through exclusivity clauses in employment contracts and regular background checks, employers want their employees to work exclusively for them.
Despite the majority, however, some companies have slowly begun to come around to the idea of moonlighting under specific circumstances. With India’s work culture and model becoming increasingly flexible by the day, it is interesting to observe how moonlighting has evolved in the country.
Employer Crackdowns
Most companies do not tolerate their employees partaking in moonlighting. For many, this stems either from performance concerns or competitive advantages. Employers expect their full-time employees to focus only on their work and hence emphasise the exclusivity factor.
In September 2022, Wipro famously sacked 300 of its employees after the company discovered that they were moonlighting.
“The reality is that there are people today working for Wipro and working directly for one of our competitors, and we have actually discovered 300 people in the last few months who are doing exactly that,” Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji stated, calling moonlighting a “complete violation of integrity in its deepest form.”
In the same month, Infosys also issued a strict warning to its employees against moonlighting. “No two-timing — no moonlighting!” the company told its employees.
“Any violation of these clauses will lead to disciplinary action, which could even lead to termination of employment,” Infosys told its employees while talking about the company’s exclusivity clause.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) joined the fray against moonlighting, announcing its stance against the practice.
“Moonlighting, we believe, is an ethical issue, and it’s against our TCS core values and culture in general. I’m not talking about IT industry as a whole, I’m talking about TCS perspective. We have been communicating this to employees,” said Milind Lakkad, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at TCS.
Why are companies against Moonlighting
The strict stance that some of the major companies in India have against moonlighting does make one curious. Unsurprisingly, moonlighting does come with its own set of risks and implications that both employers and employees can not ignore.
- Productivity impact: Moonlighters run the risk of lowered productivity and job exhaustion when working more than two jobs at the same time.
- Competitive Confidentiality Breach: Companies are especially wary of their employees working for their competitors in case of a confidentiality breach.
- Tax and compliance: It can be hard to adhere to tax and compliance policies when receiving payments from multiple sources.
- Employment risk: The chance of losing one’s job if they are discovered to be moonlighting is quite high. This is especially true when an exclusivity clause is part of one’s employment contract.
Tentative Support for Moonlighting
In contrast to the stance adopted by giants like Wipro, Infosys, and TCS against moonlighting, some companies have taken a more liberal approach to their workers partaking in a secondary form of work.
Through its “Moonlighting Policy,” Swiggy enables its employees to undertake projects outside their work. The company stated that it trusts its employees to excel in their performance while working on interesting external projects.
“Any project or activity that is taken up outside office hours or on the weekend, without affecting productivity, and does not have a conflict of interest, can be picked up by the employees. The employee will have to declare a few necessary details so that the team can greenlight the project,” Yamini Kognati, who now works as Head of HR – Swiggy Instamart, Group DEI Leader, elaborated.
Tech Mahindra had also announced its plans to roll out a transparency-based moonlighting policy in November 2022. While discussing the tentative policy, the company emphasised that employees have to inform the company when undertaking external work.
The tentative policy did bar employees from working for Tech Mahindra’s competitors, and the work should adhere to the master service agreement or the contract of the customer. However, as of writing, the policy has not yet come into effect.
In the End..
Even as moonlighting has slowly started to shed its negative connotations, even the most supportive companies have certain limits they want to maintain. While advocating for transparency, it is evident that companies don’t want their employees to work for their direct competitors.
The increased practice of moonlighting showcases the need for a transparent relationship between employers and employees. Both parties need to make their expectations clear in order to avoid major conflicts down the road.