Moonlighting for Dollars

In an effort to pay the bills and put food on the table, highly skilled and/or experienced unemployed workers were happy to take any jobs available or start their own businesses. Some will be happy to leave when jobs in their field and income level come available. Others may have grown accustomed to the new job or found that they enjoy being their own boss. The business may be exciting and profitable. Reluctant to lose a source of income in an uncertain economy, many newly employed workers will find themselves moonlighting—working a second job as a hedge against future unemployment.

It is said that no man (or woman) can serve two masters. Some companies have policies against working a second job. In order to successfully manage a workforce that divides their attention and energy between two jobs, companies need to review their employment policies and revise employee communications so that everyone knows what is expected.

1. The Company comes first. If the company allows employees to work a second job, they should understand that their “day job” or company job comes first. Their second job needs to be scheduled around their company job, not vice versa. If an employee wants to continue his evening DJ job, great. But he/she still has to be at work on time in the morning. Flexibility doesn’t include letting someone sleep in because their gig ended at 3 a.m.
2. Their second job cannot compete with the company job. A marketing manager with an internet marketing business cannot solicit the company’s clients. Using company vendors and influence for discounts for supplies and services may also be a conflict of interest.
3. Company work on company time. Checking emails and orders for a side business or taking phone calls from private clients is actually stealing—time and wages paid while “on the clock.” Those employees may be used to working during the day promoting their own business and servicing clients. Without a clear policy on using work time, you may find that you are paying employees while they are working and making money for themselves.
4. Worker or contractor? An employee may have a valuable product or service that your company needs. What is your policy on employees becoming vendors as well? A solid conflict of interest policy will keep you out of legal trouble and prevent the resentment of other employees who see their co-worker profiting by “double-dipping.”
5. No soliciting. One way to cause unrest and animosity in the workplace is to allow a co-worker to actively solicit others to buy products or services from a personal business. It also wastes work time and cuts into productivity. Some people get so involved in their business that they end up hounding their co-workers on a daily basis. A clear policy will protect the rest of the staff and ensure that everyone is working on the company’s business.

Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for BusinessWorkForce.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients discover what they love and spend their life on it. You can read more of her blogs at businessworkforceblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt.