TeamTrace
Today’s high-paced and competitive world leads many to take the wrong path. And one common instance is taking up multiple jobs. Stagnant wages, job insecurity, and the rising cost of living are the common reasons why employees engage in dual employment or “moonlighting.” Dual employment issues raise serious concerns for the business as productivity is impacted, and confidentiality is compromised.
Sadly, that’s not all!
Today’s blog centers around dual employment, its challenges for businesses, and how to proactively monitor the signs of moonlighting. Later, get an insight into how SMEs and established businesses detect moonlighting with an intuitive workforce monitoring software.
Let’s get started on the discussion!
To put it simply, dual employment is a situation when an employee performs two jobs simultaneously, either combined with their full-time role or under two different employers. Moonlighting or double employment comprises practices like part-time roles for another organization, running a side hustle, and even freelancing.
The catch here?
All of these happen without informing the primary employer!
While dual employment seems harmless, especially when done outside working hours, it sometimes leaves the business in shatters. Some repercussions of it include:
Dual employment isn’t considered illegal in various settings. However, it breaches the terms of employment if the individual refrains from seeking approval from their employer. In sectors like IT, finance, and even consulting, where high-performance standards and sensitive information are used, the dual employment issue can cause serious trouble.
Before answering questions like “Can I do dual employment in India?” or “Is moonlighting legal in India?” Let’s first understand what fueled its rise in the country. A recent study suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic fuelled various frauds, including fake job histories and moonlighting.
Remote work provided opportunities for employees to take up freelance projects and additional jobs, thus creating a situation of double employment.
In the Indian legal system, moonlighting is not explicitly prohibited, although several regulations and laws address the issue. Here are a few laws and legal frameworks that help employers enforce stringent actions on moonlighting employees.
The Factories Act of 1948
Not the whole of the Factories Act, 1948, addresses employee moonlighting, but in Section 60, some clauses put a restriction on employees for dual employment. The law quotes, “no factory worker will be needed or allowed to operate in the factory on any day/s when he has been operating in any other factory.” The law applies only to employees working in registered factories and not IT employees.
The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act of 1946
In 1946, a new law named the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act came into force.
This act ensured that employment terms remain smooth for industrial establishments. The goal is to combine fairness and transparency in the employee-employer relationship, where employers have to define set rules for workers.
Whether it comes in the form of harmless side hustles or serious conflicts of interest, the dual employment issue isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach! Not all moonlighting is malicious, but understanding its various types can help employers restore productivity in employees and company trust.
Having been categorized as the type of dual employment that employees take up only to meet their financial necessity, blue moonlighting is the most common type. These jobs may or may not relate to their primary profession. An example of this type of moonlighting is an accountant by day, driving an Uber in the evening to supplement his income.
Although the risk level here is low to moderate, undisclosed moonlighting can result in burnout and reduced job performance.
White moonlighting is the practice where an employee takes up a side gig or a second job that is associated with their professional skills. Usually, the employer is notified about this form of dual employment. For instance, a software developer working on weekends with his manager’s knowledge outside their office hours. The risk level in white moonlighting is usually low.
Thirdly, black moonlighting or dual employment refers to working for a competitor using company resources and handing out sensitive information to them for personal gain. This is the most unethical and serious form of moonlight, and the risk level is usually high. Under black moonlighting charges, the employee might get fired from his job, along with breach of contract penalties and legal actions.
When it comes to preventing dual employment, all you need is a proactive approach. Instead of jumping straight into punishments after discovery, certain steps can help employers tackle dual employment effectively.
All set to discourage moonlighting? Make sure you follow these steps:
First things first, begin by setting the right expectations to avoid employee moonlighting. Communicating legal safeguards right from the beginning, along with clear HR policies and well-drafted contracts of employment, can help build a strong sense of trust. A business should have an employee contract and an HR policy with the following:
It all begins with observing how your employees are behaving during work hours. Understanding their behavioural pattern not just facilitates performance management but also detects potential risks like double employment. With hybrid and remote operations, employers need smarter ways of monitoring, like TeamTrace.
With TeamTrace, you can keep a tab on:
Several instances of moonlighting stem from a lack of awareness. Employees sometimes fail to understand company policies and legal implications, which ultimately puts them in trouble. Another example is when they fail to comprehend how side gigs unintentionally create conflicts of interest.
Educating employees helps them to:
It is difficult to find out if an employee is moonlighting when you don’t know where to look. Employers can follow certain practices to check whether the employee is having a second job or not. One of the most common practices is to undergo an employment background screening before recruiting the candidate.
But what about an employee who has been working with your organization for years and is suddenly showing signs of dual employment?
Relax, there’s a solution for that, too! Various work and workforce monitoring software have been introduced in the industry after the pandemic, and one exemplary software is TeamTrace. Moonlighting is fairly easy for remote or hybrid teams as they are not continuously monitored. To track whether employees are working out of login hours by simply scrolling the mouse, TeamTrace is your saviour.
Here’s how!
TeamTrace optimizes an Activity Monitoring System that helps in tracking the activity level of employees and whether they have distractions. When detecting insider threats becomes easy, employers get transparency on their employees’ productivity. And if you observe regular distracting patterns, you know it’s time to summon the employee to your cabin!
When work is divided, attention shifts. TeamTrace lets you track employee availability and how prepared they are for taking up new tasks, thus reducing the risk of dual employment challenges. Furthermore, prevent scheduling conflicts and ensure optimal allocation of resources at the right time.
At TeamTrace, we believe in ethical monitoring. Hence, we do just what’s needed- nothing more, nothing less! URL and App tracking ensure employees are not leaving important tabs during their work hours. This reduces the risk of time spent on activities unrelated to work and thus hinders moonlighting.
Dual employment and moonlighting are growing concerns in today’s flexible, remote-first work culture. While employees may take up side gigs for financial or personal reasons, it’s the employer’s responsibility to put an end to malicious practices.
The key lies in proactive management, clear HR policies, and ethical monitoring tools. Having a state-of-the-art workforce monitoring software can encourage employee productivity tracking. By taking these steps, businesses can protect themselves from potential risks while building a culture of trust and transparency.
With the right balance of technology, policy, and communication, organizations can detect and prevent moonlighting before it becomes a serious issue. This will help in ensuring long-term success and workforce accountability.
