Moonlighting clause: second jobs and side work

Sample clause

Written for an employment contract between Southbank Legal Support, a fictional Brisbane legal services firm, and a full time paralegal.

Outside Work. (a) While employed, the Employee must not undertake any other paid or unpaid work, or carry on any business, without first obtaining the Company's written consent. (b) The Company will not unreasonably refuse consent, and may refuse only where the outside work: (i) competes with the Company or is for a client or competitor of the Company; (ii) creates a real risk of misuse of the Company's confidential information; or (iii) would, together with the Employee's hours with the Company, risk the Employee's health or safety through fatigue. (c) The Employee must tell the Company of the average weekly hours of any approved outside work and of any material change to them. (d) The Company may withdraw consent on reasonable notice if circumstances change.

Sample wording, not legal advice.

Variants

What to negotiate

• Reasonableness

  An outright ban on all outside work, including unpaid volunteering or unrelated weekend jobs, is harder to justify, may be an unreasonable restraint, and is often ignored in practice. A consent rule with listed grounds for refusal, as in the sample, protects the employer's real interests and is easier to enforce. Part time employees in particular should resist bans, since they may need a second job to earn a living.

• Fatigue rules

  Employers have work health and safety duties, and a worker doing long hours across two jobs can be a safety risk, especially in driving, machinery, healthcare and security roles. Asking for weekly hours of outside work lets the employer manage that risk. In the UK, the 48 hour average weekly limit applies to total hours across all jobs, so employers need to know about second jobs for compliance as well.

• US state laws on off duty conduct

  Several US states have laws protecting lawful off duty activities, which can limit how far an employer may control what employees do outside work, although these laws vary and do not generally prevent restrictions on working for competitors. Employers operating in the US should check the state rules before relying on a broad clause.

The risk of leaving it out

Without a moonlighting clause, an employee can generally take other work as long as they do not breach their duties of fidelity and confidentiality or work for a competitor in a way that harms the employer. The employer may not learn of a second job until a problem arises, such as fatigue, a conflict with a client, or excess hours.

Rules on second jobs by country

In Australia, no statute stops an employee having a second job; the limits come from the contract, the duty of fidelity, and work health and safety law, and the Fair Work Ombudsman notes that employment contracts can include terms about outside work. In the UK, contract terms govern second jobs, and the Working Time Regulations limit total weekly hours across jobs to an average of 48 unless the worker opts out. In the US, at will employment gives employers wide latitude, subject to state laws protecting some off duty activities. In each, restrictions on working for a direct competitor are the most widely accepted. Law checked on 21 October 2026. This page explains how the clause works and is not legal advice.

What counts as outside work

Clauses should say whether they cover unpaid work, volunteering, board positions, running a business, investments and creative work such as writing or content creation. Many employers exclude passive investments and unpaid community work. Side work that uses the employer's equipment, time or information is a separate problem, often covered by IP and confidentiality clauses rather than the moonlighting clause.

Asking for consent

An employee seeking consent should describe the work, the hours, whether any client or competitor is involved, and how they will keep it separate. A written answer protects both sides. Employers should respond promptly and give reasons if refusing, tied to the grounds in the clause. Refusing without a reason, or for reasons outside the clause, invites a dispute.

Moonlighting and conflicts of interest

Where outside work could affect decisions in the main job, such as working for a supplier, the conflict of interest clause also applies and requires disclosure. Many employers handle both in one approval: consent to the outside work, conditions on it, and a record in the conflicts register if an interest is created.

Documents that carry this clause

Employment contractA full time ongoing contract for an operations coordinator on $86,000 plus $10,320 of superannuation. Eleven numbered clauses, a leave table drawn from the National Employment Standards, and a notice table that scales with service.Part time employment contract template with set hours and pro rata leaveA part time employment contract template has to do something a full time contract does not: fix the regular days and hours in writing, because Australian awards require it for part time staff, and show how every leave entitlement is scaled to those hours. This one does both for a bookseller working 24 hours over three days.Employee handbookThe handbook a new starter actually reads in their first week, written for a four clinic health provider with 61 staff. Eight sections, each answering a question in under a minute: what kind of employment you are on, when you work, what leave you get, how we expect people to behave in front of patients, what you may and may not do with a patient record, the five safety rules, and how notice works when you go. It says plainly that the award and the National Employment Standards win wherever the handbook differs from them.

Questions people ask