Wipro recently suspended the employment of 300 employees who were caught Moonlighting while remaining on the company’s payroll, according to the firm’s executive chairman Rishad Premji on Wednesday.
Moonlighting is the approach of performing multiple jobs at the same time, and remote working has made it easier for employees to do so. Technology and software firms in India are split on whether or not to permit their staff to moonlight for other firms while remaining on their payrolls.
“If you look at the definition of moonlighting, it is having a second job secretly. As a part of transparency, individuals and organisations can have very candid conversations about whether they want to play a band at night, or work on a project over the weekend. That is an open conversation that two adults, the organisation and the individual can make a choice about whether it works or does not work for them,” Premji said.
Premji has stated that, despite receiving criticism for his statements on moonlighting, he stands by his remarks and thoughts on the subject. Premji was among the first high-level IT leaders to highlight the matter of moonlighting.
“There is no space for someone to work for Wipro and its competitor x, y or z. They (the competitor companies) would feel exactly the same way if they discovered it. So, I stand by what I said that it is a violation of integrity if any employee is moonlighting in any way, shape or form,” Premji added.
Wipro’s move has been termed “unethical” by a body of employees known as the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES). NITES has stated that terms in offer letters and employment agreements must be modified. The group stated that they will seek justice for the ousted employees. Wipro
