Infosys is mulling policies to allow employees to take on gigs on the side externally, Chief External Officer Salil Parekh said while addressing the press after announcing its results for the second quarter.
The company will support employees taking on certain side projects after the prior approval of managers. “We are also developing more comprehensive policies for that while ensuring contractual and confidentiality committed are fully respected,” Parekh said.
However, he made it clear that the company does not support dual employment.
He also revealed that Infosys has let go of people working for two companies in the last twelve months.
"If the employees are doing blatant work in two specific companies where there are confidentiality issues, we have let go," he said.
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In addition to external gigs, that within the company, Infosys has set up a platform called Accelerate through which employees can take up other gigs apart from their main line of work. On average, Parekh said about 4,000 people apply each quarter and 600 are selected for this.
Infosys had made its stance against moonlighting clear in the past as well, when employees received an email that dual employment was not permitted and “strictly discouraged”.
The email sent to employees defined moonlighting as the practice of working a second job during or outside of regular business hours. The email, sent by HR had termed the practice as ‘two-timing’, and was titled ‘No Double Lives’.
The company cited its employee handbook and code of conduct, according to which a second job is not permitted, and the offer letter also has a similar clause. Any violation of clauses could even lead to the termination of employment, the company had said.
With this, all four IT majors have given a similar view on moonlighting, with all of them speaking out against moonlighting.
Earlier this week, Tata Consultancy Services had said that this was against the company’s culture and values, and that it wasn’t allowed as per the agreement they sign.
HCLTech’s Chief People Officer Ram Sundararajan espoused a similar view, where he said the company does not approve of dual employment. “Everybody who works for HCLTech is signing up for an employment contract which requires exclusivity. There are requirements around confidentiality, non-solicitation, non-compete etc. all those provisions that are there we expect our employees would honour those,” he said.
Similarly, Wipro Chief Executive Officer Thierry Delaporte said it was a question of ethics and an “obvious conflict of interest”.
“We’re perfectly fine with someone having a little side job here and there. It’s different if you’re working for a company that is in our environment,” he said.
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