Amidst growing debate about moonlighting and companies firing employees for the same, India’s IT giant Infosys has allowed its employees to take up gig work outside the company with the prior approval of the company’s management. This was informed to the employees of the company through an internal mail that was sent by the management. By doing so, Infosys became one of the first major IT firms in India to allow their employees to take up external gigs, MoneyControl reported.
“Any employee, who wishes to take up gig work, may do so, with the prior consent of their manager and BP-HR, and in their personal time, for establishments that do not compete with Infosys or Infosys' clients,” read the mail that was sent to the employees. However, the company has refrained from using the term ‘moonlighting’ in the mail, as that would mean dual employment, which has created a major controversy in the IT industry.
The email, however, has given a certain set of guidelines that employees should follow while taking up side projects, in such a way that it does not come in the way of their work at Infosys. “We count on our employees to ensure that this does not impact their ability to work with Infosys effectively. In addition, as per Infosys employment contract, employees may not work in areas when there is a potential conflict of interest or by accepting dual employment,” Infosys said, in its mail.
In September this year, Wipro chairman Rishad Premji said that over 300 employees of the company were fired after they were found working with one of its competitors at the same time. The chairman, who had previously voiced his disagreement with the practice of moonlighting, said that he stood by his recent comments on moonlighting being a complete violation of integrity. "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," he had said.
Watch TNM’s Let Me Explain on the issue of moonlighting: