Anyone Working Two (or More) Full-Time Remote Jobs?

[Golfer20]

1 hour ago, BlackDiamondPar5 said:

I wouldn't because it's unethical. 

I could have easily done it over the last year because the customer wanted an FTE in my position even though it wasn't needed.

 

Aside from ethics I wouldn't want to screw up a well paying gig that allows me significant flexibility, awesome work life balance, including ducking out early one day a week to play 18 etc.

Agreed.  This was my logic for not doing it initially.  The job I have now comes with unlimited PTO and great benefits along with it being enjoyable work.  I didn't want to chance messing that up.  

However, thinking about what I did in my previous job and what I do now, it would have been very easy to keep both of them with very little chance of ever being caught.  I guess with one full-time job I get a clear conscience and that's worth something.  😇 

[klineka]

9 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Ok, I will be a bit nuanced about it. 

Someone who is working full time, by the IRS 30-hours a week for the one job, I have no issue with that person working another full time job as long as the hours do not overlap.  In the morning, you work full time as a waitress at a diner, and then got a full time job at the 2nd shift someone else in the afternoon. That is totally fine.

If you have an 8-5, 40 hour job, where you sit at a computer (either in office or at home), to me it is unethical to work another job during those hours. Lets say you work your 8-5 or 30 hours, what ever the required hours are for the job. If you got another job lined up after that, maybe 2nd shift IT service or call center type of job, totally fine. No issue at all with that. 

Depends on how the job defines working hours. If you personal contractor, who takes on jobs (bidding on a job), you may not be defined by a standard working hours (like 8-5). 

So, lets say you have a project for one company, and take on another for a different company, and hit both deadlines. Totally fine with it. The work hours are not defined. It is like an artist who contracts on multiple works of art. 

If you have a defined 8-5 type of job as an IT guy, and you are doing programming for a side gig during those working hours, to me that is unethical working practice. Do that side gig after you clock out. Let's say you work IT from 8-5, and then you have an agreed upon side gig to work 30 hours per week, so 5:30 till 11;30, go for it. No issues at all. 

 

4 hours ago, iacas said:

Those are typically two separate jobs that don't overlap.

They're not being paid on a project basis, they're being paid for their time. If you have to try to schedule meetings or availability based on another job, you're not fully available for the job for which you're being paid "first."

I understand what you're going for here, but if the person wants to do that… they should be freelance or a gig worker. Get paid on a project basis.

And there are some salaried employees who are often "project" type things, but that generally means they work 50 hours many weeks, with a few slightly slower weeks here and there. They're still generally expected to work 40 hours or so a week (if not more).

Let me ask you this: if the developer in your hypothetical worked in the office instead of at home, would it be unethical for them to work on other projects and make outside money while they're on the company's property? Let's say the company is incurring no extra expenses, but instead of being available or working on that company's stuff, because he feels he's completed what he needs to complete, he works on other things outside the company… while sitting in his office. Do you have a problem with that? Because I do.

And I'm saying all of this as someone who often did things way quicker than expected. You know what I did in those situations? More. I checked with other teams to see if they needed a hand. I built extra tools. I did more testing. Etc. For the company that was paying me for my time.

That second outside job is done outside of work hours, not overlapping and taking from the 40+ hours they're expected to be working on the first company's stuff.

2 hours ago, iacas said:

@klineka, what I have to say or do in a golf lesson is like 10 or 15 minutes (and often the thinking part is done in only a minute or two), so in your opinion… it shouldn't bother you much if I am doing other things most of the rest of the time? Day trading or whatever? There's a reason you pay less per individual for a group lesson, right?

All of your responses make perfect sense, especially about the time piece, that your employer is paying you for your time, so using the time they are paying you for to have someone else pay you for the same time is absolutely unethical regardless of how much work there is or isn't. I didn't really have a strong opinion either way prior to this thread/your responses but seeing how you guys explained it definitely has me on the unethical side.

 

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, klineka said:

All of your responses make perfect sense, especially about the time piece, that your employer is paying you for your time, so using the time they are paying you for to have someone else pay you for the same time is absolutely unethical regardless of how much work there is or isn't. I didn't really have a strong opinion either way prior to this thread/your responses but seeing how you guys explained it definitely has me on the unethical side.

Cool.

Look, everyone probably steals a little time from their employer by going on Facebook for 15 minutes here and there, or whatever.

But literally being paid to do something else, that's too much. If your full-time job only takes 10-20 hours, do more. Make yourself more valuable, then get a raise/promotion or something.

(Or work on a per-project basis.)

Shortly before 9/11 (cuz I quit on 9/15), we also had a planned Internet outage at my web development shop where I worked. I worked from home for the week. I worked from 7am when I'd normally start driving to work, until about 11 or 11:30. I got more done in that time because I wasn't distracted by so much crap that I could spend my afternoons doing other things. So for a week, I did.

But I'd also check back in later that evening to see what others had done during the day, and would do some more work at night, extra stuff. I started working on a library of code we could repurpose and some other things. Things I thought were "fun" and "challenging" that entertained me a bit, but would also make my work easier in the future, too.

With good employees, I think that working remotely can be good. But sometimes, the bad employees spoil it for everyone.

P.S. Had I just quit at 11:30 every day, my boss wouldn't have been mad. I was more productive that week than any other. But he'd have been justly annoyed if it turned out that we stayed home, and I only ever worked a half day. That's not in me to do, so it wouldn't have happened, but if I were someone else, I'd understand his ire for that.

[Big Lex]

I have known of a few people over the years who worked 2 full time jobs. All were civilian employees working on military bases who held down “full time” second positions. I knew one guy who bragged he was working three jobs, all contributing to pension plans (one full time, two part time). He said retirement was going to be great if he didn’t die first. They say there is a labor shortage today, so maybe some people are getting offers they feel they can’t afford to turn down. 

[boogielicious]

We had a guy get hired and worked for a week and then quit. Turns out he was still working for another company and took a vacation week to see if he likes this job better. His old company found out and he got fired from that. 

Every job I had over the years was a full time commitment and my company expected it was my only job. That being said, the GIG economy and certain types of work like programming have changed the way individuals commit to companies. I can see with good time management people being able to do more that one job. As long as they’re up front and the employer agrees, it’s fine.

[BlackDiamondPar5]

This thread made me think think about something else. There's actually guys that have secretly lived 2 lives, with 2 wives and families. Holding down two full time jobs is comparatively child's play 😂

[Golfer20]

3 hours ago, BlackDiamondPar5 said:

This thread made me think think about something else. There's actually guys that have secretly lived 2 lives, with 2 wives and families. Holding down two full time jobs is comparatively child's play 😂

Ha! Very true... However, I have no clue how those people do that... That's lying 24/7 not just for 40 hours a week. LOL