The moonlighting : Is it legal to work 2 jobs in India?

Have you heard of the term moonlighting it means having a second job as inYou have your nine-to-five job and once you're done with that you take up Another assignment that's moonlighting there's a lot of debate online is it ethical or is it like cheating on your first job.

?Why is moonlighting called?

It is because the second job is usually taken up after normal work hours meaning it's mostly an evening job and that's the association with the moon why do people do it why do they moon light to maximize their talent to make the most of their potential also to earn an extra income.

Let’s discuss both on employee and employer perspective

Employees are cheering for moonlighting it involves taking up an assignment outside your work this assignment could be anything related or unrelated to your first job so how is it different from freelancing you see a freelancer is not an employee she is self-employed and provides services to multiple organizations so your freelance moonlighting is when a full-time employee holds multiple jobs you could be a salesperson nine to five and you could be moonlighting as a dj or you have your own YouTube channel.

it could be for passion for the sake of financial security to give your creativity a chance or just because you want to it. there are multiple portals offering part-time or project-based jobs like writing jobs translating jobs ,graphics designing, animation, consulting, social media marketing, influencer marketing, a whole lot of things social media has made moonlighting very easy and work from home has given people

the extra time to moonlight they're saving time on travel and many are using that time to monetize they're monetizing that time to want some extra money

Could be anything really today there is a growing opportunity to moonlight.

Particular moonlighting you have been in sector before also

1.???School teachers giving private tuitions or doctors having private practices also.

2.???very often top level employees moonlight as consultants.

?Employer perspective

?Employers obviously not so much they worry about productivity loss.During the pandemic the numbers went up globally and now there's a big debate Online so what is the fuss all about here's why moonlighting worries employers one they worry that it could lead to conflict of interest two there could be also a breach of confidentiality or employees could be misusing company resources like using office laptops for other gigs.

moonlighting could also lead to absenteeism ,fatigue and burnout and these are all valid concerns but so is the argument in support of moonlighting it is quite simple if an employee can afford to do more and earn more why shouldn't she as long as it does not get in the way of a primary job why should moonlighting be anybody's business if anything an employee may be able to bring more to the table every new assignment comes with an opportunity to learn and develop.

?if we ?talk about the Indian law regarding dual employment

it say the factories act of 1948 prohibits dual employment in India but this act does not regulate the engagement of employees across all sectors it only regulates labor in factories. What about the rest there is no specific law prohibiting moon lighting in India.

Then how employers can control the moonlighting

actually a job contract its terms and conditions decide whether or not you can pick up a second assignment whether or not you can moonlight there are two clauses that you should watch out for the first one is a single employment clause your work contract may legally bind you to a single job the second one is the non-compete clause it prohibits an employer from or an employee from working with a rival company and this can be after you've resigned or even during your employment if you don't have either of these clauses in your contract then you can safely moon light in India.

?so is moonlighting the future well who knows these are changing times the work culture is changing people want to have a plan b with everything that they do it is also normal to want multiple sources of income especially given how unstable the economy is right now people also want to hone different skill sets.