The Pros and Cons of Allowing Moonlighting

Moonlighting—some employers have no concerns with their employees taking on a secondary job (or jobs), and indeed there can be a lot of benefits to allowing it. Other employers fear the potential negative impact it may have on their organization, and seek to curtail it. Business consultant Bridget Miller lays out the ups and downs for our readers.

Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of moonlighting from the employer perspective.

Pros of Allowing Moonlighting

Here are some of the various benefits for employers that opt to allow employees to take on additional concurrent jobs:

• It can allow employees to pursue side gigs that they find fulfilling on a personal level, leaving them feeling more satisfied. Thus, it can act as a retention tool.
• Allowing moonlighting is probably the easiest way to stay on the right side of the law. It may be illegal to ban moonlighting in many cases, given that there are state and local regulations limiting how much an employer can interfere in an employee’s off-duty time. From a legal standpoint, it can be difficult to put too much of a restriction on what an individual can do to make a living. (This is not meant to say it’s completely illegal to have a moonlighting policy; employers simply need to act with caution and not be overly restrictive without a clear business justification.)

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• Moonlighting can allow employees to make extra money, which can ease pressure on the employer for wage increases.
• Some moonlighting roles can benefit the original employer. For example, if an employee lends his or her expertise as a trainer or teacher, it could improve the company’s reputation of employing experts in its field or industry.
• Moonlighting can also be a way for employees to gain new skills, which can be applied at their full-time job.
• It can mean keeping employees who would otherwise leave, especially if they’re moonlighting to make enough money to make ends meet. Forbidding this would likely mean that the employee simply leaves to find either a better paying job or one that allows him or her to continue both jobs.
• Someone who is focused enough to hold two roles is often a very hardworking, motivated individual—an asset to any organization.
• Second jobs can mean the employee has a bigger network, which can benefit the original employer. For example, it could mean the employee has a larger base from which to refer new clients, or he or she knows someone who might help the organization solve a future problem that arises.

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• Allowing moonlighting and setting terms around it can be a way to improve trust. It can also prevent an employee’s performance from suffering if he or she is always trying to hide a second job.
• Allowing an employee to have a second job can be a way for employers to tap into a new resource: the employee’s coworkers at their other job, who may also be looking for additional work. This potential talent source can result in the original employer being able to fill some roles with part-time employees and can reduce overtime hours.

In tomorrow’s Advisor, Bridget Miller goes over the cons of employee moonlighting along with some potential solutions, plus an introduction to the all-things-HR-in-one-place website, HR.BLR.com.