Moonlighting is neither ethical nor a work trend

Source: The post is based on the article “Moonlighting is neither ethical nor a work trend” published in the Livemint on 23^rd September 2022.

Syllabus: GS 3: Indian economy and employment.

Relevance: About Moonlighting.

News: Wipro has sacked 300 employees it found guilty of working for its competitors. This triggered the ‘moonlighting’ debate.

What is moonlighting?

About the employee contracts in India

Indian economy runs on the trust that contracts will be honoured. An employee and employer are bound by the terms of a mutual contract. Accordingly, a full-time employee doing a side job for a rival is an unacceptable violation of that deal.

How did pandemic aid moonlighting?

Many persons doing ‘dual employment’ is clearly a post-covid phenomenon. This is because a) The workplace is now mobile, atomized, in our laptops and smartphones, b) Employers were happy to let their boundaries blur as long as work got done.

What should be done?

IT firms oppose moonlighting as they often work with client data that must be kept secure and employees who moonlight could also create a larger credibility risk for them.

A gig economy need not turn out to be more worker-friendly. Corporate values and mission alignment matter in setting one company apart from another. Further, job securities provide superior value addition and better job satisfaction. So the employees should understand moonlighting is neither ethical nor a work trend.