Companies worry that this is causing loss of revenue and productivity. And it’s putting pressure on employees to get back into the office as soon as possible, at least a few days a week.
Birlasoft CEO Dharmendra Kapoorwho is also the chairperson of NASSCOM’s regional council for Noida, said she had received complaints that one person was working for seven companies parallelly.
“We know the name of the person and which companies he worked for, as the employment details were shown in his PF records. After getting several active PF accounts, it was caught by the HR managers of a firm. It is difficult to catch such cases,” he said.
Vikram moneylenderHead of HR Law Practice at law firm Nishith Desai Associates said that in the absence of a centralized database in India, it is difficult for employers to track whether an employee is moonlighting.
“Subject to confidentiality considerations, employers may be required to examine the employee’s tax filing or provident fund account to ascertain whether there is any salary or income from other sources during the period of employment. Indian courts have also accepted the fact that moonlight lighting adversely affects the productivity of the employee,” he said.
Shroff said the restrictions on double employment in India are included in labor laws meant for factories and some employment standing orders.
He said some technology employers include negative contracts in their contracts, specifically prohibiting employees from taking on any other employment during their current job, other than requiring them to disclose any conflicts.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, chairperson and CEO of Salesforce India, said a separate channel should be created for gig workers.
“We have to create a hybrid workforce which includes part-timers. People should be given a choice. Abuse happens because you put them in a straitjacket and they can’t come out. It is possible to accommodate them in a hybrid structure if you place them in a location with different safety controls and requirements. The future of work will look very different,” she said.
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