300 in Wipro fired for moonlighting

September 22, 2022

Wipro has sacked employees who were involved in moonlighting.

What is Moonlighting?

Moonlighting is the term used to describe an individual taking up a second job or multiple other work assignments besides his full-time job.
The practice of working for multiple organizations while committing to one primary workplace has been taking place without the employer’s knowledge.
Moonlighting has become popular in the IT industry as working from home became a norm during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This has been opposed by companies as it might affect the employees’ productivity.
Companies like Infosys have warned their employees against this practice without letting them know, failing which could result in the termination of the employment.
It is believed that moonlighting could cause conflict of interest if the employee is working with multiple rivalling companies.
It could also create ethical issues related to non-disclosure, breach of data or confidentiality.
There are also concerns that the employees would work directly with the clients and significantly reduce the organizations’ profits.
Moonlighting is not a new concept, with employees using it to either earn extra money or follow their passion, improve their skills, expand their network and find more exciting career opportunities.
However, moonlighting could be considered cheating if the employee’s contract specifically calls for non-compete and single employment. The is mentioned in majority of conventional employment contracts.
Under the Factories Act, 1948, dual employment is banned. However, IT companies are exempt from this rule in several states across India.
There is no specific statute concerning moonlighting in the Indian labour laws.
Dual employment or overemployment is technically permissible in the US and the UK from a tax perspective. The US tax regime functions based on the idea of self-assessment and voluntary reporting.