Handling Moonlighting Employees

The only time you need to get involved with an employee's moonlighting habits is when they affect your business and the employee's performance of his or her job. If you develop a moonlighting policy, use it when you counsel employees about whatever problems you perceive the other job causes for your business.

Asking an employee to give up another job. Use these examples to see if you are on the right track in determining when it's appropriate to ask an employee to give up another job.

Test Yourself Beverly is your employee and she deals frequently with customers and the public over the phone. She does her job well. You find out that Beverly also has a job as a dancer at a gentleman's club. Do you ask Beverly to give up her job? Yes No

In the example above, what Beverly is doing is lawful, off-duty conduct and some states have laws that protect employees from discrimination by employers for such off-duty conduct.

Test Yourself Patrick is your employee, and his work hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Patrick also works as a waiter at an all-night restaurant on the graveyard shift. Lately, Patrick has been rolling in to work late, and it seems to be happening more and more. Do you ask Patrick to give up his job? Yes No