Jun 12 2024
Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda.
Amanda DeMatteis: Hey, Josh. What are we going to talk about today?
Goodbaum: We’re going to talk about side hustles. There are a lot of families out there that are struggling to make ends meet, and one job is not necessarily enough for them. So, people are taking on a second job – maybe they can do it part-time, maybe it’s in the gig economy, or maybe they’re just doing it nights and weekends. And we get asked a lot, “Am I allowed to have a side hustle? Can I get fired from my main job because I’ve got a second job?” What’s the answer?
DeMatteis: I love this, and I love that people have these side hustles, which sometimes are making them even more money than they’re making from their main job. So good for you, and keep hustling. But if you’re going to do that, let’s make sure we’re being smart about it. So, I have a few things for you to think about.
The first is: check your employee handbook. Some employee handbooks say that employees of a particular company need to devote all of their working time to that employer. And so long as that’s a universally applied rule, meaning it applies to everyone that works for that particular employer, that’s an enforceable and perfectly legal policy. And if that’s what your employer says, well, then unfortunately, no side hustles for you. But if there is not that type of policy contained in your employee handbook, then so far, you have a green light. So, what do you want to think about next?
The second thing you should take a look at is any restrictive covenants you may have. What if you have a non-competition agreement and your side hustle is actually competing with your main job? Well, that would be a problem and could, in fact, be a violation of that restrictive covenant, which would get you into some hot water if your employer found out about it. So, be really cautious about that, and be sure to check those restrictive covenants first. But if there’s nothing there, you have yet another green light.
So, one more thing for you to think about before you dive headfirst into this side hustle is: make sure that you are not taking any of your employer’s time, confidential resources – anything that is a benefit to you of being employed by your employer – and using that over at the side hustle. So, if you work from home, it wouldn’t be okay for you to be working on your laptop for your main job while all of a sudden, and at the same time, taking calls for the side hustle. Because, again, during that time, you’re being paid by your main job, and you wouldn’t want to be accused of stealing time. The same goes for using company resources. You couldn’t use any confidential information for your benefit in that other job.
So long as you really check off those three boxes that I’ve just gone through – employee handbook, restrictive covenant, make sure you’re not using any confidential resources from your main job to assist you in your side hustle – I think you’re probably safe. Legally speaking, assuming you’re an at-will employee, you’re not technically protected from termination because you have a side hustle, but your main employer is probably very unlikely to care or even notice.
If you have any questions, of course, talk to an employment lawyer.
Goodbaum: Great advice, Amanda. Thank you all for watching. We’ll see you next time. Take care.
Posted by Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C. in Commentary
Tagged Amanda DeMatteis, Joshua Goodbaum
