Dear digitalb3-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.
As mentioned, it is not illegal for anyone to hold two (or more, if
that?s possible) full time jobs. Unless one or more of the companies
specifies as a term of your employment that you hold only one full
time position, there isn?t a problem, legally or contractually
speaking.
There are however some potential risks in having two jobs when one
would rather not divulge his alternate employment to one or both of
his employers. First, and probably the most likely scenario, is the
conflict of responsibilities. If one employer, for example, requires
you to work overtime or gives you a project to work on that takes up
an extraordinary portion of your otherwise free time that you devote
to the other job, a definite conflict will result and you will be
forced to take from one in order to give to another in order to avoid
the risk of letting the cat out of the bag.
Another potential scenario, along this same line, might be promotion,
hour/shift changes, transfer, or alteration to your job description
that might require more devotion or even travel. Here you might be
forced to choose one employer over another as your primary employment
and ultimately be placed in a position to have to let one of the jobs
go. Where promotion or lateral transfer is concerned, some companies
require employees to actually ?apply? for those positions. If you find
yourself in this predicament you may be forced to make a decision
about whether you should (1) lie on your application for internal
promotion or transfer, and risk getting fired if you are discovered,
or (2) fess up to your secret and risk being fired or denied promotion
or transfer on the grounds that you were not truthful or forthcoming
in a timely manner, or (3) be penalized by having to turn down the
promotion or transfer in order to protect your secret.
Something else to consider is the possibility that your performance
might be affected by the long hours you are keeping. Employer number 2
might not be getting the same level of commitment and energy as
employer number 1 and your job performance might suffer on your second
job as a result. There again, along that same line, you might
eventually take a greater interest in one position over the other and
perform better in that capacity as opposed to the job that doesn?t
interest you as much. At any rate you run the risk of poor performance
appraisals at one position if you run out of gas or out of interest
before taking that seat each day.
In one of the worst-case scenarios, you might eventually be fired or
laid off because of your poor performance because you over extended
yourself. This would obviously result in a poor employment record or
lack of positive background should you seek other employment and wish
to have a recommendation.
As for your employer discovering that you are employed via the
internet, unless he seeks out a private investigator or background
check via the internet, this isn?t likely. However, let me also say
that if one or more of your employers suspect you are working
elsewhere and the issue is of such importance that he begins searching
for a means to prove or disprove his suspicions, he is likely to come
to you and simply ask. In this instance you will have to make a
decision as to whether you should lie about the matter and risk being
fired if he finds out the truth, or tell the truth about the matter
and risk being fired for your lacking performance (he probably can?t
legally fire you for having another job, so your performance is
probably where he will make his case.)
Ironically, as I see it, you are most likely to be discovered through
three unlikely sources:
First, if your job requires you to mingle with the public, with
clients who do business with both companies, or with ?someone who
knows someone?, a person who frequents both venues may let the story
out unknowingly.
Secondly, if you are working in a position at either venue where you
have the possibility of being sued, investigated, or (strange as this
might seem) have the potential to be awarded public accolades
(employee of the week, etc), the media (newspaper, newsletters,
internet sites, etc) would end up being the source of your secret?s
discovery.
Finally ? and this is probably not something you have given much
thought to ? your employers ?could? potentially discover your secret
themselves through your insurance. If you have an injury or illness
and file an insurance claim, one policy underwriter might request or
divulge a co-paying policy of your secondary employer. As horrible as
it might seem, if the bill is a substantial one, the companies could
end up in a quarrel over who is going to pay the lion?s share of the
bill because the debate over which employer is the primary employer
has never been established ? both employers believing they are the
only ones. (Oooo, that would be ugly, wouldn?t it?)
In an instance where you don?t have two policies and think that this
problem would never apply to you, you might consider the many
hypothetical situations that could similarly reveal information. Let?s
assume, for example, that you get injured on one of your jobs and file
a worker?s compensation claim. Somehow you are going to be faced with
(1) telling the other employer what happened, or (2) lying to your
other employer about what happened, or (3) risk being held criminally
liable for defrauding worker?s compensation ? a very serious offense
that can result in imprisonment and huge fines ? if you return to your
secondary job while receiving benefits, or (4) grit your teeth and
bear your untreated injury and continuing to work both jobs because
you are afraid to report it and risk being found out.
Again, let?s assume you are held liable for an action you took (or
were accused of taking) at one of your jobs. Maybe you wreck a company
car, violate someone?s rights, accused of negligence, or get accused
of a crime, malpractice, malfeasance, etc. The insurance at that
company may cover your damages and it all eventually blows over, but
now you find yourself in jeopardy with you other employer if you are
required to report any such incidents to him (as a matter of company
policy or for insurances, liability or bonding purposes).
Lastly, but certainly not limited to the endless possibilities, is the
likelihood that you might loose ?both? jobs a result of being
discovered.
Strangely enough there isn?t much on this subject that isn?t
measurably more than common sense. Here is a brief article from an
attorney addressing the question:
?Is it illegal for an employee to have two full-time jobs??
FAIR MEASURES
http://www.fairmeasures.com/asklawyer/archive/fall97/ask153.html
On the issue of where (regionally) you are located, it does tend to
make some difference. Southern states typically tend to have more ?at
will? employers (meaning that you serve at the pleasure of your
employer and he can legally terminate you ?at will? for little or no
reason) and fewer protective labor laws than New England and Western
states where employees are often protected by a multitude of complex
labor laws that are decidedly in their favor on many issues.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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