If there is one thing worth thanking the global pandemic for, it may be the flexibility of working from home.
To curb the SARS-Cov virus spread, employers across the world were advised to let employees work from home. However, beyond the watch of their supervisors -- working from home could turn sour when employees decide to take on other jobs behind employers’ backs.
Having a part-time side hustle is not uncommon in Indonesia but has mostly been limited to being outside the normal office hours. However, the minimum visibility and supervision that comes from working from home, has provided an opportunity for people to work in two full-time jobs at the same time.
Overemployed Website
This trend has become more known to the world and media since the launch of Overemployed website in April. Overemployed.com whose tagline is ‘Work Two Remote Jobs, Reach Financial Freedom’ serves as a community platform for people wanting to work two remote jobs and earn extra income.
Overemployed suggest for people doing two remote jobs to at least possess the following traits:
Risk taker: willing to take risk
Be average: Work enough to not cause attention, avoid adding more work for yourself.
Not loving your (second) job: start off your second job for money, not for the brand or title itself to avoid attachment to the role
Double Jobs Trend in Indonesia
Popular HR Twitter account @hrdbacot with over 550,000 followers threw a similar question back in August 2020. To sum up this online discussion, when asked ‘will one work two jobs’, 80% of the audience said if given the chance, they totally would work for 2 companies for monetary gain.
In Quora, a few anonymous sources based in Indonesia also told their stories about doing two full-time jobs with extra side jobs; two sources stated they were faced with economic crises due to salary cuts and needed extra income. One source who works for multiple employers in the IT industry said, “Despite the exhaustion from juggling so many meetings, these jobs stopped me from getting bored.”
Indonesian Labor Law No. 13/2003 didn’t specifically mention the prohibition of working two full-time jobs, however, Article 161 (1) said that in case worker violates the provisions specified under his or her work agreement, the employers’ rules and regulation -- the employer may terminate worker’s employment after the issuance of three warning letters.
Double Income, Double Terminations
Andrew Hairs from Select Headhunter advises anybody considering taking on a second job to think twice, as it can have long-term damaging effects on a career. People should protect their professional reputations and seek written permission from their current employer. In short, “Don’t do it!” Chances are, you will be caught and when that happens you will be terminated by both employers. These reasons for termination will inevitably come out during any reference check by potential employers in the future.
On the other hand, employers who are concerned for their employees working multiple jobs during work from home, he advised them to send a reminder to their team. He explained, “The purpose is to reinforce the employment terms that relate to other jobs, and ask for a signature to confirm that they do not have a second source of income.” This reminder is usually enough for people to terminate other arrangements or discuss their situation with their employers to gain an agreement.