Swiggy staffers can now work for others in the new moonlighting policy

Swiggy, a platform for ordering and delivering food, on Wednesday unveiled an industry-first moonlighting policy that allows staff to work on outside projects for free or even for pay, subject to internal permission. The business stated that this “may involve activities outside of office hours or on weekends that do not impair their productivity on the full-time work or have a conflict of interest with Swiggy’s business in any manner.”

However, not many others are likely to endorse moonlighting as a formalized strategy, even if it is ethical in this case, according to companies and recruitment and HR specialists. While such a policy does give employees more freedom, more opportunities to develop their skills, and a potential additional income source that could quell the employee’s desire to move out, there will be significant difficulties in supervising such side businesses and there is a risk of future conflict.

One person making a mistake or betraying trust could cause the rest of the team to react negatively. “There may be some experimenting, and some businesses may seek to catch up. It must be a decision, “the chairman of business services provider Quess Corp., Ajit Isaac, stated a policy will only need one dispute or one dilution before it is rejected, he continued. Moonlighting is a problem, but most businesses would try to prevent it rather than support it, according to Shiv Agrawal, managing director of employment agency ABC Consultants.

Additionally, very few jobs have productivity norms that are so precisely defined that it is easy to map how taking on additional work is hurting the actual job. Even though UpGrad, an edtech startup, permits staff members to teach at multiple institutions as guest teachers, it strictly operates on a case-by-case basis, according to cofounder Mayank Kumar. It is not intended to be implemented as a policy. He claims that monitoring would be very challenging.

According to Chandrika Pasricha, the creator of the freelance marketplace Flexing It, during Covid, some businesses in certain industries, such as hospitality and travel, relaxed their policies and permitted employees to take on gigs because they were unable to fully utilize them during the pandemic. According to Pasricha, other larger corporations are also considering the possibility. “What it calls for is trust in the team and the establishment of far more distinct deliverables.