/r icsues

prominent aspect in western countries

which is underplayed, debatable and

avoided subject in India, Moonlighting,

where employees either hold a second job

in addition to the primary one or hold

multiplejobs.

Generally, moonlighters holding a second, part-time

job work at nights after hours of daily work or on

weekends, There are numerous, varied reasons for

moonlighting, the primary reason being extra income.

Although, many people still exist in this category,

however, this century's moonlighters have different

aims. Apart from additional earnings individuals crave

to gain experience in different jobs in different

environments prior to maldng a final career decision or

like to gain moreworkexperience or utilize secondjobs

to delve into career changes. Thday's moonlighters also

explore the possibilities ofentrepreneurial opportunities

or want to satisfy their passion/interest or take benefit

of learning a specific skill in another field. Sometimes,

people also take up a second job to help ex-employers

or family business, or friends to fulfill a vacancy by

temporary working on it if there is dearth of skill for

that position in the industry. Some moonlight for career

orpersonal satisfaction or to de-stress also. For example,

a moonlighter, who is a senior executive in a TV media

companyduringthe day, also works as a faculty teaching

sales management, media planning and public relations

in a reputed Mumbal institute on weekends. He gets the

satisfaction in knowing that he is shapingyoung minds.

Although, he admits, both the jobs need equal

commitment. Another moonlighter, a senior banking

executive of a reputed bank de-stresses himself by

writing novels with banking as the backdrop in all of

them. This is nota full time second job. but, itis one he

enjoys as much as his banking job and is a great stress-

buster for him. I-fe writes in the ate hours ofnight as he

considers an unfinished manuscript in hand a delight.

Besides, in an automobile company an employee

marketed insurance policies to colleagues, managers

The lure of

moonlighting has

many hooked on;

nonetheless HR

pros are armed

with various

ways to

discourage it.

and bosses of the day job being on duty This scenario

occurs when employees are underpaid or their

remuneration never increases or when the individual is

trying to build up hislher own business.

People get into moonlighting by studying their life

and career involving personal, family and financial

situations, comprising long-term objectives. In order

to understand the motivation and impact, for example.

the reason for earning more could rise from the

individual's financial problems which may be short term

or long term, and thus, the duration of external

employment is on the basis of the seriousness of the

monetary issues.

In India, manyopt for studies on parents and societal

demands thereby making people end up with careers

that they were never meant to be in. An excellent

example of this situation is depicted in the movie `3

Idiots', where one of the idiots has great talent in

photography but learns engineeringbecause his parents

want him to. Thus, an alternate career in the form of

the additional job to satisfy one's interesting field of

work is also one of the reasons that make people take

up additionaljob/s.

Moonlighting is a trend that is seen impacting

industries such as l'E finance, law, medicine, media, etc.

Many employers are unaware that their employees are

moonlighters and in all probability employers may not

have such policies on the samemay be due to ignorance.

But, of course employers can have policies to govern

moonlighters not onlyto retain.efflcient employees and

discourage moonlighting, but, also to embrace new

relationships including the use of part time and

temporary workers, and innovations like job sharing

and telecommuting.

Furthermore, moonlighting is of two types viz.

external and internal. In external moonlighting

employees take up second jobs, assignments, freelance

work outside their regular permanentjob that they are

doi g everyday. In contrast, internal moonlighting

happens within the organization that the employee

A

2$ MARCH2010 HUMAN CAflTAL

hissues

works in everyday. In internal moonlightingworkhours

of moonlighters are counted after the regular on duty

hours as written or agreed by employer-employee.

However, employees cannot moonlight internally on

their day off or leave. Internal moonlighting is usually

practiced by medical residents. If organizations start

internal moonlighting for its employees it can prove to

be an advantage for them, r example, IT companies

can create more IPs, and enhance their own talents

which will put off external moonlighting for employees.

Impact of moonlighting

Moonlightinghas its obvious impact on moonlighters.

Besides, having an adverse impact on daily routines by

working extra hours, employees have to even sacrifice

being with their families and friends or are unable to

engage in any leisure time activity until they are putsuing

ajob in their area ofleisure activity, otherwise theycould

end up with more responsibility and risks. This could

lead to burn outs. Although, the freedom experienced

on having a second job or career brings psychological

benefits like the feeling of not being bound to one

organization.

However, there are some plus points of

moonlighters as theyusuallyscorehigher on self-esteem

than their one-job counterparts. They take part or

volunteer in charitable organizations or support NGOs.

Also, they score higher on the dominance factor, suffer

less from anidety and are more practical, down-to-earth,

emotionally stable and Independent. Also, some people

possess the stamina to work relentlessly, and have the

ability to recognize their own limits too. Moonlighters

having these qualities can thrive on the excitement of

the second job, and probably go with same energy to

their regular day job.

Whichever reasons employees moonlight for1 the

practice can have adverse effects on organizations.

Moonlighters may take advantage of the resources of

their primary employer either by using internet, faxes,

photocopiers, etc., or by staying late to catch up with

their work, or by utilizing the regular hours of their first

job to finish work for the second one. MI this can give

rise to matters concerning productivity, physical and

mental health problems leading from the stress of

managingseveraljobs, and more significantly, maylead

to a conflict of interests between the moonlighters'

different positions.

Contrary to the adverse impacts, there are some

benefits of employees' moonlightingforthe companies,

too. For example, if an IT professional becomes a

massage therapist on the weekend or is a Karate

instructor after work, the company benefits of having

an employeewho comes to work relaxed and refreshed.

The exercise of different work may aid moonlighters

bring in new ideas, innovative styles, fresh patterns, or

just work more effectively than before.

Is it legally permissible in India?There is no single employmentlabourlawor otherwise,

which restricts or provides for moonlighting in general.

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&

However, the Supreme Court in A1R1970SC823

enunciated the general principle in the these words:

"The general rule in respect of relationship of master

and servant is that asubsisting contractofservice with

one master is a bar to service with any other master

unless the contract otherwise provides or the master

consents.

The restrictions or policy on moonlighting would

differ from case to case or organization to organization.

In other words, whether moonlighting is permitted or

not would depend on a number of factors, like nature

of the organization whether government or private,

the terms of the employment agreement, HR policy of

the organization, nature of work carried out by the

concerned employee, etc.

Moonlighting is specifically prohibited for

government servants/public officials. For example, the

Central Civil Servants Conduct Rules, 1964 prohibit

civil servants from engaging in private trade or business

or to engage in any other employment. However.

honorary work for social or charitable purposes or

occasional work of artistic, literary or scientific nature

is permitted. Similarprohibition is contained in the code

ofconduct or service rules ofvarious departments and

divisions of State and Central Governmentand various

government bodies/authorities.

In private sector, most organizations in India

discourage moonlighting and a typical employment

agreement or HR policy would restrict an employee

from taking up an alternate vocation or work, during

the term of his!heremploymentwith the organization.

It is pertinent to note that such restrictions are not

void/prohibitedunderthe law. Although, under section

27 of the Indian Contract Act 1872, agreements in

`restraint of trade' are void; however, the above

mnentionedwould not Include restrictions imposed on

an employee to pursue alternate work/profession

during the term ofhis/her employment. It lswell within

an employer's right to impose a condition upon the

employees that they shall not take up any other trade,

profession or employment, while in its employment.

lcochhar & Co. view such restrictions, particularly, in

respect of full time employees as legal, valid and

enforceable.

Professionals, such as an advocates, chartered

accountants, etc. are prohibited from engaging in any

otherbusiness or occupation underthecode of ethics/

conduct of their respective professional bodies. For

example, under the Code of Ethics formulated by the

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India 1CM, the

practicing chartered accountants, duly registered with

the [CAl, are prohibited from engaging in any

profession/business other than the profession of

chartered accountancy, unless permitted by 1CM.

Similarly, as per the rules on standards of professional

conduct and etiquette framed by the Bar Council of

India, an advocate is prohibited from personally

engaging in any business. However, activities which are

akin or incidental to such profession may be pursued.

For example, an advocate may write books or articles,

address conferences, seminars, etc. Thus, moonlighting

is mainly an option for casual, part time or piece rate

workers, who are not regular full time employees.

Structuring moonlighting policy

To shape up a good policy for moonlighters here are a

few guidelines forHll architects. The purposes behind a

moonlighting policy need to be communicated

appropriately. In general, the policy can explain the

expected performance standards from the employee

by the employer which takes care of moonlighting

activities not interfering with employees' regular, daily

work; remind employees of holding company's

information as confidential, may be through IF

agreements; and caution against conflicts of interests

between the two jobs and sometimes employers/HR

approval ofthe additional employment. Also, employers

can emphasize that they expect the employee to put the

primaryjob first at all costs and add that as an important

clause.

Moreover, one can add clauses to prohibit behaviors

that negatively impact the employer like the utilization

of organizational resources, time and paid absences for

any secondary employment. The policy should also

discourage any outside work activity that affects the

employee's punctuality, loyalty and ability to execute

other responsibilities ofthe primaryjob. Kochhar & Co.,

too, recommends that organizations should Incorporate

a specific provision in the employment agreements, HR

policy or the employee code of conduct or similar

employee guidelines, restricting! prohibiting the

employeesfrom moonlighting.Also, disciplinaryactions

should be stated for the reason ifthe outsidework causes

or contributes to job-related problems or conflict of

interests. For example, ifthe moonlighter is working for

a competitor, first a warning for unacceptability can be

given and if the employee doesn't refrain from leaving

the competitor the employee can be immediately

terminated. Kochhar &Co. too,agree. if moonlighting is

expressly prohibited, instances of moonlighting should

be seriously dealt with and appropriate disciplinary

proceedings must be initiated against the erring

employees. In fact, moonlighting could be aserious issue

if the employee is engaged in employment with a

competitor of the employer. Further, in certain

circumstances, moonlightingby an employee could also

tantamount to cheating under the Indian Penal Code,

1860 says Kochhar & Co.

However, legally, Kochhar & Co. says that an

organization has every right to restrict its employee/s

from engaging in any other trade, business or profession

duringtheterm of employment. Infact, aBPO company

does have policies in place that restrict or prohibit its

employees to moonlight. Such restrictions are imposed

to ensure that the employees devote theft full time and

energy to the organization only. On the other hand, with

respect to employees engaged in casual or seasonal or

part time/piece rate jobs, it would be unjust on the part

ofthe employer to restrict such employees from taking

up any other trade, profession or employment during

days, hours, or seasons, as the case may be, when they

30 MARCH2010 ,nw,thurnBncapIttIDnhIfle.m HUMAN CAPITAL

fir lisues

are not required to work. In our view, says Kochhar &

Co., if restrictions are imposed In respect of such

employees, the same are liable to be struck down as

void under Section 27 ofthe ContractAct. Insuch cases,

organizations should show flexibilityand the employees

may be permitted to moonlight, subject to such

conditions as are reasonable and necessary So far as

such employees are concerned, itwould be appropriate

for the concerned employee to disclose the details

regarding the alternate work, vocation or business

which the employee in question is undertaking or

proposingto undertake to the organization.

Moonlighting is not an Issue where both the

employer and employee agreeto the same. Forexample,

laje organizations like IT&tech companies have explicit

policies about holding work outsidethe reguiarjob. For

instance, Microsoft allowed its employees to work

completely outside the core business, for the most part

without any prior permission reported Brian Mime in

his blog `Microsoft MoonlightingPolicy'. But, work that

maybe questionable required special permission. This

presented a barrier for a lot of people as practically

anything linked to websites, coding, technical wriUng

etc. would possibly require permission. lb simplify the

process and also keeping its intent about avoiding

conflicts of interest, MicrosQft switched to a simple

bloggingpolicy

Challenges & solutions

Speaking of mindsets, while moonlighting creates

challenges for HR executives from a management

viewpoint, HR pros may have trouble being too

disturbed about moonlighting. In fact, complete

prohibition of the practice is not a feasible option, as

this sometimes builds resentment against employer.

Also, banning of moonlighting can have affect on

employee motivation and results could be the opposite

of what the employer was hoping to achieve and in

turn, employee relations may decline with productivity

and overall organizational health. By drafting an

appropriate policythat can reduce moonlightingimpact

on productivity, safety conflict ofinterests, and misuse

of organization resources is a good solution.

Even if employees are not impacted by moonlighting

the possibility ofthe primarycompanyshiftingplace or

employees getting a transfer since this is the era of

globalization also poses a challenge. Adding to the

employees' Insecurities, financial troubles created by

an unstable economy, ups and downs In the stock

market. etc. people get nervous about the implications

ofthese things and thus, havingasecondjob or exploring

a second careerprovides an additional level ofsecurity

Also, from the organizational standpoint

moonlighters are signals for HR pros on problems in

company's working conditions, or that the employer

has a super-creative employee. In the latter case, it

should make the employer aware thatthe moonlighter

employeeis under utilized in terms oftalent and energy.

The problem could be tackled by chatting with the

person about avenues in your company that the

employeewouldlike to explore. Andinthe former signal

i.e. in case ifthe employee is unhappywith the primaq

job then in all probability the employer may loose the

employee. Psychologically, ifsomeone doesn't feel good

aboutthemselves at work, they will look for satisfaction

some placeelse. Thus, ifthe employer/HR can't increase

pay, or give perks, or challenge, moonlightingdoes the

work. But, ofcourse, a responsible employerwill not let

the situation last forever.

Sometimes, businessesare down likewhenthe orders

are not coming in and there isn't enough money to

support free R&D, allowing or encouragingmoonlighting

may be the best option to keep employees on board

while they are bored.

There are possibilities of moonlighting becoming a

trend since outsourcing is a major contributing factor.

Also, no one seems to be exempt from the lure of the

moon. Even senior level people are seen moonlighting

through contract work.

Employees who opt for moonlighting consider it to

be usefit however, organizationsmayormaynot permit

moonlighting dependingupon its wayofthinldng.

P4a,*mal legal wnlenlfor IS article Ms beeupmt*I&by Kocbbar & a.

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