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I live in a right-to-work state. I work for a nonprofit gym chain watching children while their parents work out. The gym does not allow their employees to take outside babysitting jobs with their members (although doing so would not take business away from the gym). They claim it's for the safety of the children, which makes no sense to me. Shouldn't that be between the parent(s) and the potential babysitter, not the gym unless it's on their property during the employee's work hours? I recently had a mother I had met via watching her child at the gym ask me to babysit her child at home for date nights with her husband. I told her I would think about it. Can my employer legally prohibit me from taking this job just because she is a member? Isn't that against right-to-work laws? Are they allowed to tell me what I can and cannot do when I am off the clock?
TIA!!!
Explain your situation to the mother, arrange a quiet cash deal on the side.
The less drama the better.
It is both legal and common for employers to put conditions on the outside employment of their employees. Conflict of interest is the biggest reason, but there are others as well, such as concern about the outside work reflecting on the employer.
I agree with Suburban Guy....this restriction makes perfect sense to me. In addition to the potential liability Suburban Guy noted the gym doen't want its employees soliciting work from its clients. That is not appropriate and can make clients uncomfortable. And yes I think there is a potential for a conflict of interest. The concern would be that the outside cient children might get better/more attention in the gym than the nonoutside client children. Even if that is not the case, most employers want to avoid even the appearance of potential conflicts of interest.
Right to work states have nothing to do with unions. In fact right to work means there are no unions. Please, seek medical attention.
RTW has everything to do with unions. The poster you are telling to seek medical attention knows more about labor law than just about everyone on this forum put together.
OP: I am sure they view it as a conflict of interest.
I live in a right-to-work state. I work for a nonprofit gym chain watching children while their parents work out. The gym does not allow their employees to take outside babysitting jobs with their members (although doing so would not take business away from the gym). They claim it's for the safety of the children, which makes no sense to me. Shouldn't that be between the parent(s) and the potential babysitter, not the gym unless it's on their property during the employee's work hours? I recently had a mother I had met via watching her child at the gym ask me to babysit her child at home for date nights with her husband. I told her I would think about it. Can my employer legally prohibit me from taking this job just because she is a member? Isn't that against right-to-work laws? Are they allowed to tell me what I can and cannot do when I am off the clock?
TIA!!!
You are employed and should be making a sufficient, sustainable income to live within your means and develop retirement. A second job should not be in any form of consideration unless you are a corporate executive being asked to serve on a board of directors or chairman of an organization. Your employer has every right to decide if you should or should not be working outside of normal work hours. The employer is paying you to focus your attention on their work and outside interruptions are extremely unprofessional and grounds for termination. Although you may not feel there is a risk it is not your place to make that evaluation. It is also the company who decides if it would impact their business. The employer has set a rule - follow it or seek new employment, which will likely be impossible when the potential employer contacts your former employer for termination reason.
This is not a fun thing to discuss but it is the law and it is the company's right as defined in their bylaws. Please continue to focus on your existing job and discuss any concerns with your manager.
You are employed and should be making a sufficient, sustainable income to live within your means and develop retirement. A second job should not be in any form of consideration unless you are a corporate executive being asked to serve on a board of directors or chairman of an organization. Your employer has every right to decide if you should or should not be working outside of normal work hours. The employer is paying you to focus your attention on their work and outside interruptions are extremely unprofessional and grounds for termination. Although you may not feel there is a risk it is not your place to make that evaluation. It is also the company who decides if it would impact their business. The employer has set a rule - follow it or seek new employment, which will likely be impossible when the potential employer contacts your former employer for termination reason.
This is not a fun thing to discuss but it is the law and it is the company's right as defined in their bylaws. Please continue to focus on your existing job and discuss any concerns with your manager.
These don't make sense. What if you have only 0.4, 0.5 or even 0.7 FTE (full-time equivalent), which means you work only 32, 40 or 56 hours in two weeks? That's not enough to pay for food and rent, not to mention to pay for anything else. Of course it depends on how much per hour you get pay and the cost of living in your city. Thus, of course you need to find another job. Or even you work full-time, no employer can forbid you to work another job somewhere else. What you do out of the working hours is none of any employer's business as long as you don't do any harm/damage to the employer.
The point here is about the conflict of interest at your workplace. You can have another job anywhere else out of your work hours there as long as you don't have anything to do with the employer's clients or their relatives. You may ask: how would the employer know? People talk.
At my workplace you are required to report any secondary employment in writing - no matter what. If you receive payment in any form - you have to report.
Yes, conflict of interest is a concern as well as protecting the employee from any potential liability..
Unfortunately, I have to agree, yes, your employer can prevent you from working outside of your employment. The least to consider is conflict of interest.
This is very common with your type of position. The gym is protecting themselves. God forbid something happen while your babysitting for a family on your own time, the gym doesn't want to be held liable.
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