Many industrious office workers may be more industrious than their employers realize. In fact, after putting in time at their primary jobs, a lot of those workers rush off to other jobs—jobs that help them make ends meet or build savings, or maybe they work a second job to pursue a passion. Whatever the reason, researchers have found that moonlighting may be on its way to being the new normal. 
If recent research on moonlighting really does signal a new trend, employers need to consider the consequences—issues such as confidentiality, conflict of interest, leave abuse, productivity, and even safety, according to attorneys who help employers devise workplace policies.
A research report from software giant Adobe released in May covers a variety of workplace topics, including moonlighting. The research claims that one in three U.S. office workers has more than one job. That compares to one in two workers in India and almost one in four in the United Kingdom.
The research says that 56 percent of the U.S. office workers responding to the survey expect multiple jobs to be the norm in the future. It also shows that sometimes moonlighters work extra jobs to boost income, but often they’re motivated by the desire to pursue a passion.
Instead of being worn down from extra work, the research suggests that moonlighters are likely happier than their single-job coworkers. The Adobe statistics say that moonlighters in the United States are more likely to be optimistic (78 percent versus 73 percent) and happy (78 percent versus 72 percent) than non-moonlighters.
Employers concerns
But what does moonlighting mean to employers? What potential downsides do they need to explore, and what do they need to do to keep moonlighting from harming their business?
Confidentiality, conflict of interest, and leave abuse are among the legal issues for employers to consider, according to Jason R. Mau, an attorney with Greener Burke Shoemaker Oberrecht, P.A. in Boise, Idaho.
“An employer can best protect itself by adopting specific noncompete, confidentiality, and conflict of interest policies that contemplate that an employee very well could be moonlighting for (or as) a competitor, or creating a conflict of interest,” Mau says. “While these policies do not necessarily need to reference outside employment directly, a leave policy should.”
Mau says prohibiting outside employment while on disability or medical leave will help curb abuses and will give employers authority to discipline employees trying to use leave time to work elsewhere.
Also, federal law entitles employers to prohibit outside employment altogether as long as the policy is nondiscriminatory in its adoption and enforcement, Mau says. But employers that don’t want to totally ban moonlighting are still advised to address potential problems through an outside employment policy. Such a policy should address performance, use of company property or equipment, and attendance.
Mau says employers may also want to include other provisions. For example, an employer may want a policy to point out ineligibility for accident benefits when an employee is injured at another job and explain that the employee may be replaced if the injury is serious enough to cause the employee to be absent from work.
Jeremy Thompson, an attorney with Morris Polich & Purdy LLP in Las Vegas, Nevada, reminds employers that productivity can be hurt when employees work multiple jobs. Plus, employers have to be aware of safety issues associated with tired employees. “Moreover, tired employees lead to issues with absenteeism and work performance,” he says.
“If moonlighting is permissible, then an employer must ensure that it has policies/employee contracts in place to specifically address productivity, absenteeism, conflicts of interest, and use of company time and resources,” Thompson says. “Should the moonlighting employee fail to adhere to those policies while moonlighting, then the employer would be able to justify an adverse action.”
Reasons for moonlighting
The Adobe researchers asked moonlighters why they take on multiple jobs. By far, money is the top reason, with 69 percent of the U.S. moonlighting office workers saying they want to earn more money. The next most common response, from 27 percent of the respondents, is to pursue a passion. For example, an accountant may play in a band on weekends.
Other reasons cited include networking opportunities, to gain new skills necessary to shift careers, to obtain more experience, to help others, for fun, and social interaction with other people.