HCL on Moonlighting: After Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro and Infosys, the latest IT company to weighed into the debate of moonlighting is HCL Technologies. Ramachandran Sundararajan, Chief People Officer of HCL said that the company does not approve of dual employment. He made the remarks while addressing the Q2 earnings briefing.Also Read – After Sacking 300 Employees For Moonlighting, Wipro Says Working For Competitors Question Of Ethics
“Dual employment while working for HCL Tech…we do not approve of that. Everybody who signs up to work for HCL Tech is signing up employment contract which requires exclusivity. The requirements around confidentiality, and non compete… all those provisions that are there we expect our employees to honour those commitments,” Ramachandran Sundararajan said.
Fortunately, he said, moonlighting has not come up as a big problem within HCL Technologies. “We don’t have that as big problem that we have too many people indulging in dual employment. It is not a big problem. We have had one or two stray instances,” he said.
What is Moonlighting?
A practice where an employee works for a second job outside his/her regular business hours under certain conditions for an extra income is known as moonlighting. COVID-19 pandemic is said to have given rise to moonlighting practice among the white-collar professionals in country.
IT major Wipro had laid off nearly 300 employees who were caught working for its competitors while being on the company’s payroll.
The company’s executive chairman Rishad Premji said, “It is very simple. It is an act of integrity violation. We terminated the services of those people.” When asked about receiving flak for his statement on moonlighting, Premji said he stood by his comments and views on the issue.
Will HCL Give 100% Variable Pay to Employees?
On being asked about giving variable pay to the employees, the company said whether it is pay increase in this cycle or managing variable pay even in tough times, the company has stayed on course and stuck to its policy.
There has been no change in the company’s approach to variable pay or, for that matter, annual compensation review.
The only change in annual compensation review this year has been with regard to top leadership team where compensation has been deferred by a quarter.