Check your contract before you take side work
Four clauses decide whether side work is allowed, and how to read them.
By Lauren Mitchell, Director, Legal · Edited by Helena Voss · Published
The clauses to find
Open your employment contract and the staff handbook and look for four things: an outside-work or moonlighting clause, a conflict-of-interest clause, a non-compete or non-solicit clause and a confidentiality or intellectual property clause.
Most contracts do not forbid side work outright. They require that it does not clash with your hours, does not compete with your employer and does not use its confidential information or equipment.
Questions to ask yourself
- Would a task help a competitor or a client of my employer?
- Would I use my employer's laptop, software, data or time?
- Does my contract require approval or disclosure of outside work?
- Do I have an invention-assignment clause that could reach what I make on the side?
If you answer yes to any of them, talk to HR or a lawyer before you accept the task.
What Deftridge does
Your recruiter flags tasks that look close to your employer's business and never submits you without your written OK. We cannot give legal advice and do not replace reading your contract.
What the law says in a few places
Contracts differ, but some rules come from the law itself. These are the rules on non-competes and working hours we have checked on official pages so far. They are a starting point for a conversation with your own adviser, not advice.
- Minnesota. Minn. Stat. 181.988 subd. 2: a covenant not to compete in a contract or agreement is void and unenforceable, with exceptions for a covenant agreed during the sale of a business and one agreed in anticipation of the dissolution of a business. Source (checked 2026-11-01).
- Washington. RCW 49.62.020: a non-competition covenant is void and unenforceable unless the employee's annualised earnings exceed $100,000 a year, adjusted annually under RCW 49.62.040. Source (checked 2026-11-01).
- Ontario. Since 25 October 2021 the Employment Standards Act prohibits employers from entering into a non-compete agreement with an employee, with two exceptions: the sale of a business where the seller becomes an employee of the purchaser, and executives (CEO, president, CAO, COO, CFO, CIO, chief legal officer, chief HR officer, chief corporate development officer, or any other chief executive position). Agreements made before that date are not affected. Source (checked 2026-11-01).
- United Kingdom. A worker cannot be made to work more than 48 hours a week on average, normally averaged over 17 weeks, unless they choose to opt out of the 48-hour limit. Source (checked 2026-11-01).
Questions
Can my employer forbid side work?
In many places an employer can restrict work that competes or conflicts with its business, but blanket bans are limited by local law. Check your contract and local rules.