Being a freelancer is often not easy: you must juggle several projects at once, deal with tight deadlines, and manage unreasonable clients… The last thing you, as an independent worker want is a lawsuit – and doing this side activity as a mean to get some extra money beside your day job might bring you to court.
Freelancing is a grey area in the eye of the law, yet many people jump into it without being aware of certain legal consequences. But the truth is, there are indeed cases when freelancing while holding a full-time job is considered to be illegal.
When Freelancing Is Illegal
In order to be sure that freelancing while having a day job is completely legal most lawyers recommend checking your employment agreement. There are companies which are aware of freelancing and thus do everything in their power to prevent workers from any side activities that could potentially lead to denunciation.
However, be aware that the employment contract doesn’t have to spell out an explicit prohibition of freelancing. In that case it’s important to clarify whether or not your freelance job causes a conflict of interest. In general freelancing is illegal if you are sharing company secrets or using their assets to further your self-employment. Additionally, employers can also expect to be laid off if they are freelancing during regular work hours or use the company’s resources, such as cars or the phone line to do gigs.
When Freelancing Is Welcome
In case the state laws and your employers don’t state anything against freelancing, and there is no conflict of interest, then you have nothing to be afraid of.
Still, having two jobs at the same time may severely affect your performance. Remember that even those employers who don’t hinder you in having a secondary career can easily change their opinions the moment your productivity drops. Turning up late on meetings, showing signs of excessive fatigue are clear indications of a less valuable worker in employers’ eyes, and the board might decide to replace you.
Our advice is to consider freelancing as a temporary alternative and not a permanent second job. In other words, see whether you can manage on your own and go with one of the two positions after a few weeks.
Disclose or Not?
‘Should my boss know about my side projects?’ That’s a very legitimate question.
There are some enlightened workplaces where the employer encourages employees to widen their horizon: in fact, one lucky guy who was treated like this later invented Post-it, which benefited the company he was working at. But sadly, these are only rare exceptions.
Think about it: if you are considering self-employment then it’s clearly not a great work place to begin with. So it’s not surprising that most people hide their freelancing activities, fearing that their employer might fire them too early or just make their life even more miserable. However, experts pointed out that lying is never a solution. In fact, if you truly wish to avoid unseen legal ramifications, it’s best to discuss your free-time career with your boss.
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More FAQs
- Is Freelancing Right for Me?
- Is it Legal to Freelance While Employed Full Time?
- Should I Charge Clients for Meetings?
- Should I Include Freelance Work on My Resume?
- What Freelance Work Can I Do?
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