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Comment by HeyLaughingBoy | Hacker News Reader

To add an opposing anecdote, after 30 years in the biz I've never seen this. Not once.

In both of the contracts I had signed so far, there was an exclusivity clause saying that I would only work (as a software engineer) for the company I was signing with.

Legal or not, if you tell your manager that you are also working for another company half the time (unless you work odd hours), will they be OK? If so then good. If not then it's a matter of transparency and trust.

Also doesn't the contract has something about the number of hours? It may not be enforceable, but it's on paper.

Do you tell your employer you are looking for a new job?

I do not tell my employer everything, that is a scenario to demonstrate that you doing a second job violates basic trust, or even the contract. That is different than you looking for a new job, which should always be at the back of any manager's mind.

Who cares about this “basic trust”? Except the employer, obviously. Not exactly a balanced power dynamic there.

when you are hired they tell you exactly the basis on which you are hired, either to sit in an office/in front on slack at specific hours (FTE) or outcome-based (freelancing or FTE on flex terms).

It's totally cool that we as professionals discuss our commitment and get a flexible working arrangement. It's not cool to say you will be available to respond to incidents and what not and then not do that.

Most people do not need to be available to respond to incidents.

Don't care. As long as I can do the job they pay me to do, that should be their only concern.

great, then go on social media and bad mouth your employer and see if HR bats an eye, they should be only concerned about your output right.

Yes, they should be.

It is not their concern what I do on social media. It is unfortunate that there is so much power imbalance that most employees are afraid to criticize their employers in public.

It is real

Maybe in only some states?

Why would it vary by state, if it isn't a legal requirement in any of them.

It is purely on the employer's end, and I cannot find a legal restriction against it in any state. So it would only vary by employer.

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