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India is referred to as a labour surplus country, where there are more workers than needed. This results from India's large population (over 1 billion) and its position as the second most populous nation in the world. On the contrary, in view of prevalent Child labor issue, the children also get work. When children can find work, adults can also. So, the dilemma is about under paid compensation. Therefore, people tend to work for extra hours or even for dual employment.

Large number of people working in the private sector are compelled to work long hours, though mostly voluntarily to earn extra income.This forces them to take multiple jobs mostly out of the greed.

The term dual employment refers to the simultaneous holding of two jobs. This occurs when someone is employed full time with one company and takes on additional work for another employer, either full-time (not allowed under the Laws) or part time (as freelancer); circumventing the employment contract with the First / main employer.

The concept of double employment or dual employment remains ambiguous in our legal system; it is known that under these circumstances, the major reason for having two jobs is either underpaid employees, or desire to earn additional income for their personal reasons; however, that leads to a situation where people are forced into distracted attention on any of the jobs. The skilled manpower is expected to demonstrate utmost sincerity, discipline and dedication to the work. However, the situation of unskilled / labours may be slightly different, where the expectation in terms of self-discipline is not that intense. .

To be considered in double employment, a person must perform two roles—each of which embodies at least one-hundred percent of the responsibilities associated with that role.

Employers are not in favor of dual employment because it is detrimental to the productivity of their employees. With two jobs, an employee will be less productive than someone with only one job—the workload would simply be too much for that person to handle.

A second concern of the firms is that it will undermine confidentiality of clients, in fact chances are of a compromised confidentiality. Confidentiality has always been an important consideration for these companies; dual employment might well affect the quality of their products.

The laws of India concerning workers' rights, known as the labour regulations, cover issues including working conditions, industrial relations and wages. There are no provisions in these regulations that forbid dual employment.

The Indian labor laws are not direct, barring dual employment.  But for workers in factories section 60 of the Factories Act 1948 lays restriction on double employment in India. The provisions of the act apply to only those who are working at factories. The act prohibits a worker to work two jobs at once.

The act is a state legislation.  Since the shops and establishment act is a state legislature and differs from the Factories Act. The act may be interpreted differently in different states but the act provides for a bar on employment after work hours. Section 60 of the Factories Act 1948 applies only to factories, but not all organizations are considered factories under that law. As a result, these provisions dealing with double employment may not apply to those organizations which fall outside the definition of factory workers.

For companies or organizations that are not covered by the Factories Act, it is advisable for them to include a provision in each employee's contract explicitly stating that he/she cannot work at any other place of employment. Such clauses should be designed so as to prohibit potentially conflicting employment. If the employer permits to take up certain activities like guest-faculty, or an occasional trainer for gains, the employer has right to know the nature of activities to be undertaken and the remuneration therein, to ensure its business sensitivity amongst others.

In addition to the Factories Act, several other state-specific enactments apply to organizations not covered by that law. The Shops and Establishments Act lays down provisions applicable to companies not regulated under the Factories Act.

The act contains provisions regarding dual employment in the same institution, and applies only to institutions located within India. It is a state legislation since it belongs to a particular independent government body that has been established by charter or equivalent document; as opposed to being enacted by Parliament at the federal level of Government. Since this act deals with shops and establishments (which are different from factories), its scope differs from the Factories Act, 1948. Although the scope of this law may vary from one state to another, it can be said to prohibit people who work for an organization or institution from engaging in outside employment that might conflict with their primary job.

The concept of dual employment was not prevalent earlier, however, it has picked up momentum during the Lockdown situation, where, employees were given the option to work from home. Taking advantage of WFH situation, employees indulged in dual employment, if not formal, informal one; if not full time, then part time, or freelancing work. Such an arrangement is undesirable, though may not be strictly illegal as of now, unless a proper provision is carved out in the respective laws. The verification checks of employees have become intense now. The firms are adopting such moonlighting verification through external agencies, which can be done via Form-16 (Income documents), PF status, or through on-line sites offering Freelancers.

Moonlight clauses:

The moonlighting clause in an employment contract restricts the employee from working for another company during or after the term of that contract.

Employers use non-compete agreements to protect their interests and ensure that employees devote themselves full time to a particular job. A non-compete agreement contains a negative covenant, which is an obligation not to do something (in this case, work for another employer).

Therefore, in view of the restriction in the employment contract, it's illegal to take up another job while employed by another company. Moonlighting refers to holding a second job during the hours one is already working for someone else. Moonlight clauses are provisions that may be added to an employment agreement with the goal of ensuring efficiency and focus among employees. The conditions for a moonlighting clause are: it must be included in the contract without pressure from either party, consent can only come after full disclosure (ie, no bait-and switch), and there has been full discussion on whether or not this is applicable within their job role/industry. A moonlight clause, though not required by law in India, can be enforced whenever necessary under the law.

In an employment agreement, the employer should include a provision that allows him to fire someone who takes on additional jobs. This way, he can ensure that his employees won't have other employers while working for him—which could lead to problems down the road if one of those secondary employers sued for some reason unrelated to work done at your company.

As socially called protector, a man requires family and friends to provide support for him in times of need. He also needs leisure time so that he can be healthy both physically and mentally. Thus the Indian employment laws and regulations permit dual jobs with adequate restrictions placed on working hours, salary bracket/scale and other aspects.