IT major Infosys Ltd has warned its employees against moonlighting, saying that the practice may result in termination of contract of the employee as it is against the company’s rules. In an internal post, the homegrown IT company has said that dual employment will not be allowed as per Infosys’s code of conduct. This comes amid an IT crackdown on the practice of taking up a second job, with Wipro warning its employees weeks prior to Infosys’s letter.
On September 12, Infosys sent an email to employees warning that moonlighting could lead to termination of contract. “Remember – NO TWO-TIMING – NO MOONLIGHTING (sic),” reads the email sent by Infosys HRs.
The company in the mail described moonlighting as a practice of working on a second job during or outside of regular business hours, adding that dual employment is not permitted as per the company’s employee handbook. It further mentioned that in offer letters too, the employee cannot take full-time or part-time employment at any organisation without the consent of Infosys.
“At Infosys, dual employment is not permitted as per the employee handbook and the code of conduct. As clearly stated in your offer letter, you agree not to take employment, whether full-time or part-time as director/ partner/ member/ employee of any other organisation/ entity engaged in any form of business activity without the consent of Infosys. The consent may be given subject to any terms and conditions that the company may think fit and may be withdrawn at any time at the discretion of the company,” the company said in an internal e-mail, Times of India reported.2
The company also mentioned that shifting to remote work has led to an uptick in moonlighting. Working a second job has become easier for IT employees, without letting their prior employer know, read the email. “This can pose serious challenges to our business such as impact on productivity, job performance, risk of data and confidential information leakage, etc,” it further read.
The email from Infosys echoed a tweet of Rishad Premji of Wipro, who described moonlighting as cheating.
“There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple,” he said in a tweet last month.
There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.
— Rishad Premji (@RishadPremji) August 20, 2022
Moonlighting refers to employees taking up side gigs to work on more than one job at a time.
IT companies have been worried about the practice. N. Ganapathy Subramaniam, chief operating officer of Tata Consultancy Services, had said at an event that moonlighting will not work out in the long run. “Employers need to inculcate ethics and being right… If you make something like this for short-term gains, in the long-term, you will lose out—that kind of a message has to go to the employees,” Subramaniam said.
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