Moonlighting is considered unethical by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The Company’s core values and culture do not support the activity. No staff member has been pulled up for it so far. However, employees have been told that the Company will not tolerate moonlighting.
The Company’s stand on moonlighting is clearly stated in the employment contract, as mentioned by Rajesh Gopinath, CEO, TCS.
In a report by Mint, Milind Lakkad, chief HR officer, TCS, is reported as having called moonlighting an “ethical issue” that goes against the core values and culture of TCS.
Earlier, other companies such as Wipro, Infosys and IBM have also expressed their disapproval of the practice.
In September, Wipro had made it clear that it would not tolerate moonlighters in the organisation, by firing 300 employees who were found to be moonlighting, and thus, “violating integrity”.
Moonlighting is the practice of working a second job while already employed with one organisation. Swiggy had grabbed headlines with its moonlighting policy that allowed employees to moonlight provided the concerned managers were aware of the same and had given their consent.
While there is no specific law in India on ‘moonlighting’ per se, there are laws that regulate or impose restrictions on dual jobs to a certain level.
Moonlighting is a cause of concern for IT firms that believe that moonlighting can adversely affect the productivity of their employees and compromise data confidentiality.
