Moonlighting

April 13, 2006

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You may have employees who are working two or more jobs, especially if your workforce contains a lot of part-time employees. Any policy or rule aimed at curbing employees' abilities to take a second job is bound to be unpopular. The only real reason you'd want to consider a policy like this would be if you were concerned that another job might interfere with an employee's job with your business or if the employee's other job is with a competitor.

An employee's outside employment can place a burden on your business in the following ways:

Your employee may be too tired to perform your job effectively because another job might require the employee to work long or late hours.
Your employee may not be able available to work the hours your schedule demands because another job also requires the employee to work the same hours.
The employee may be spending working time performing activities related to another job.
The employee's job at the other place of employment may represent a conflict of interest.

If you decide that you need a moonlighting policy, don't focus on regulating employees' off-duty conduct. Instead, any policy against moonlighting should focus on the issue of noninterference with your business, specifically the employee's performance at your business and the work hours required by your job. Don't forbid employees from having other jobs altogether — it will be difficult to enforce and could result in the loss of some good employees. As with all policies, making your requirements too restrictive will hurt you more than help you.

If you decide to have a policy against moonlighting, make sure you know how to: