The Hyderabad IT companies are checking the employees in case of dual employment. However, this is taking a hard issue.
The companies are running a dual employment check on employees on EPFO (Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation) website. Some companies have put their legal department on the job to redraft appointment letters.
A US-based IT services firm operating in Hyderabad said, “We had our finance department check UAN numbers of employees on the EPFO employer dashboard to find out if they are associated with other companies.”
Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association (HYSEA) President Manisha Saboo said, “Employees should abide by the terms of their offer letters. If they want to work with more than one company they should consider becoming a gig worker.”
Mohan Reddy, former chairman of apex IT industry body Nasscom, “The majority is not moonlighting. We are telling employees that it’s not ethical as per the contract, which says you cannot do more than one job.”
“Those who don’t adhere to the contract will have to seek separation because their mindset and value systems are different from ours,” Mohan Reddy added.
Infosys said that employees cannot take up other assignments during or outside business hours. The company has also added that any violation will lead to disciplinary action that could include termination of employment.
The company describes this with the taglines ‘No two-timing, no moonlighting’ and ‘No double lives’. Infosys has sent an internal communication email to employees. These steps have come after Wipro had fired 300 people for moonlighting.
Due to Covid-19, the companies have been working from home. This is the major reason that the employees were engaged with other projects.
Cyient founder chairman BVR Mohan Reddy informed that the company from October 1 has mandated that 100% of the employees come to the office at least 60% of the time, which is three out of five days a week. Currently, about 65% of our employees are coming to the office some days a week.
On the other hand, Moonlighting got the support of the government. Commenting on the controversial issue of Moonlighting, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT and Skill Development Rajeev Chandrashekhar said, “Companies that try to prevent employees from working on their own startups or consulting for other firms is a doomed-to-fail exercise.”
When it comes to moonlighting, the IT industry is divided. Top IT giants including TCS and Infosys have criticized the moonlighting practices and have termed it as ‘unethical’ and ‘cheating’. Recently Wipro fired 300 employees for moonlighting.
However, there have been few companies such as Swiggy and Tech Mahindra that have come out in the favour of moonlighting.
