“Moonlighting we believe is an ethical issue and it's against our TCS core values and culture in general. I'm not talking about IT industry as a whole, I'm talking about TCS perspective. We have been communicating this to employees," Milind Lakkad, Chief HR Office, said today.
Chief Executive Rajesh Gopinathan said, “It is codified in our employment contract that you are not allowed to work for another employer."
Earlier, TCS COO N Ganapathy Subramaniam had called moonlighting an “ethical issue". Subramaniam believes the IT sector will be at the receiving end of it permits policies like moonlighting.
Moonlighting made headlines after food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy early August allowed its staff to work on external projects for money or pro-bono subject to certain guidelines and restrictions.
What is Moonlighting?
For the unversed, Moonlighting policy allows employees to work second jobs, outside normal business hours of the primary job, under certain conditions.
Most Indian companies prohibit staff from taking up additional jobs over concerns like conflicts of interest, job performance, or misuse of an employer’s resources.
The debate around moonlighting has divided the industry, drawing sharp reactions.
Infosys has shot off a missive to its employees, asserting that dual employment or 'moonlighting' is not permitted, and has warned that any violation of contract clauses will trigger disciplinary action "which could even lead to termination of employment".
Global tech major IBM has termed moonlighting as an unethical practice. IBM's managing director for India and South Asia, Sandip Patel said, at the time of joining, the company's employees sign an agreement saying they will be working only for IBM.
Wipro's Chairman Rishad Premji had termed such behaviour by employees “cheating". The company has sacked some 300 employees for 'moonlighting' as the IT services firm toughens its stand against staffers taking a second job after work hours.
The Wipro Chairman has said that the company had found its 300 employees worked with one of its competitors at the same time, and added that action was taken in such cases by terminating their services.
