After Wipro, IT company Happiest Minds has fired employees for moonlighting. The company said moonlighting is unacceptable as it amounts to a violation of the job contract. Moonlighting is a term to describe employees who while working for one company take up a second job. Many IT firms including Wipro and IBM have called it ‘illegal’ and ‘unethical’. In fact, it was Wipro chairman Rishad Premji who triggered the whole debate by calling it “cheating – plain and simple”.
Happiest Minds’ Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Anantharaju told news agency PTI that his firm has been quite clear with its people that dual job is something that the company will not accept. “…because when you sign a contract or employment offer, you are agreeing to work only for that company,” he said.
Anantharaju said moonlighting raises risks and questions around security, as well as the commitment of workers in devoting their time and attention to end customers and delivery outcomes. He said his firm had found instances of employees involved in moonlighting and they were fired immediately because it was a message the management wanted to drive across the company.
“Even if it is a few hours somewhere… because there is no way of really ascertaining that. So we have done that…we are clear, you can’t be moonlighting. If you want to do some voluntary activities in unrelated areas…maybe wish to go teach in a school over the weekend that is different. But for us you have to have all of your time dedicated to Happiest Minds and working out here,” he said.
The top leadership of information technology firms is currently divided with some openly against the trend while some have lenient views considering the rising cost of living and exposure the employees get while working on other assignments.
In a tweet in August, Wipro’s Rishad Premji said: “There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.” Weeks after this tweet, Premji informed that his company had fired 300 employees found to be moonlighting.
Backing him, RPG Group’s Harsh Goenka said Wipro deals with Fortune 500 clients for whom data secrecy is sacrosanct. “If the customer finds even a remote chance of data compromise, it will not be tolerated,” he said.
Infosys, the country’s second-largest IT firm, too had joined the league warning its employees against two-timing and moonlighting. However, earlier this month, it took a U-turn and allowed its employees to take gig work with prior consent from managers and HR.
