If you work 2 jobs, be careful. Equifax can tell your boss

Employers are finding new ways to handle side hustles.

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Key points

• Equifax fired 24 employees after an investigation showed they were working in two jobs.
• Equifax’s tool, The Work Number, has access to almost 150 million work records.
• If you’ve taken on additional work, make sure you know what your contract says and that you stay on top of your existing responsibilities.

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More and more Americans are taking on second jobs these days as the spiraling cost of living has hit their bank balances. Some have had to use their savings to cover their day-to-day expenses, others have taken on debt, and still others are increasing their income by working more.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, nearly 5 percent of workers hold more than one job. This percentage is much higher if you take background noise into account. Research by Zapier shows that 40% of people have some kind of side job, although for many it equates to less than 10 hours a week. If you’re one of them and your boss doesn’t know, a new tool from Equifax can put you on your feet.

Equifax fired 24 employees after extensive investigation

A report from Insider reveals that Equifax has investigated about 1,000 employees in an effort to crack down on employees taking second jobs. The agency fired 24 employees following its investigation. She says her workers are not contractually entitled to take on extra work without permission.

Equifax is one of the leading credit reporting agencies in the US, but that’s not all it does. One of its products, called The Work Number, provides income and employment verification services. With more than 140 million active records, the company has access to employment information on millions of Americans.

The Insider article said Equifax used its The Work Number tool, along with other data, to uncover employees who were working two jobs. Other information includes manager feedback, low log-in activity, and employee interviews. While Equifax says it complied with all relevant laws, one person interviewed by Insider questioned how it used its data to “spy” on its staff.

How to hold down two jobs

One of the many consequences of the pandemic is that people’s approach to work is changing. For example, the growth of telecommuting has made it more feasible to take on additional work. Not only do people save time commuting every day, but they also have more control over their schedules. Also, there is less supervision when people work from home.

At the same time, higher living costs make it harder for people to make ends meet, increasing the appeal of finding another source of income. But the Equifax case shows that some employers are unhappy with their workers on the job. Here are some basic rules for minimizing the impact of your extracurricular work.

1. Check your contract

Every company is different. In some industries, it is not uncommon for people to take on additional work. Others allow it as long as you don’t work for a competitor or ask you to inform your line manager. Others do not allow it at all. Keep in mind that there is a big difference between working two jobs and taking on a side job. Make sure you know what the contract and employee handbook says before you go too far down this road.

The ideal scenario is to be able to be transparent about your extra work. If you can tell your company what you’re doing, you’ll waste less time worrying about what might happen if they find out. Explore some of the benefits of side jobs and consider what benefits they can bring to your employer. For example, you may be learning new skills or feeling re-energized. If you’re building a name for yourself on social media as an expert, some of this new fairy dust may land on your company.

2. Prioritize your core work

Make it clear what your commitment is to your main job. Your employer can reasonably expect you to work a certain number of hours per week and do the work you are paid to do. But unless you’re working for a competitor or selling company secrets, they don’t have the right to tell you what to do in your free time.

Let’s say you have an office job, but you’ve started a side business selling smoothie packs from home. If your employer checks your work history online and finds that you spend your work hours ordering dates and cacao nibs, you may have a problem. But if you’re meeting your deadlines, doing the work you’re contracted to do, and not using your office time to research the latest smoothie news, it might be a different story.

3. Avoid burnout

Dual-tasking might involve burning the candle at both ends and slightly melting it in the middle. You must be extremely organized. Another challenge? Make time for yourself as well as your dual work life. It can be easy to neglect exercise, healthy eating and sleep when faced with competing deadlines. The problem is that this can be counterproductive. You can keep the records spinning for a few months, but if you don’t take care of yourself, you can burn out and find yourself unable to handle one job, never mind two.

Bottom row

There’s a lot of appeal in starting a side hustle, especially if it means more money in your bank account. The trick is to manage it carefully so that it doesn’t jeopardize your core business. Note that Equifax’s new tool makes it easier for employers to disclose any work you do on the side. This makes it even more important to know what you are contractually entitled to do and to follow your basic responsibilities at work.