Rather Than Banning Polywork, Make It Work for Your Organization

Employers who find ways to work with employees who have side hustles, second jobs, or other streams of income can give themselves a recruitment advantage, bring in cutting edge skill sets, and boost loyalty.

That’s the thesis of Katie Tanner, founder and principal advisor of ClearPath HR Advisors, who urges organizations to rethink the boogeyman currently being called “polywork.”

While there have been several highly publicized, egregious examples of this concept — think the 300 employees Indian firm Wipro fired for working simultaneously for a competitor — it’s far more common, and far less consequential, than many employers currently think, Tanner said during a session on polywork at SHRM26 in Orlando. 

But employers will likely have to open their minds to dual- or multi-employment even if those potential benefits resonate with an organization’s leaders — because the youngest generations in the workforce have come to expect it, Tanner said. More than 90% of Gen Z workers have juggled multiple roles at some point in their careers, Paychex reported in 2024, and 65% of them said they intended to keep their side hustles, according to Intuit. 

“HR can go to leaders and say, ‘They aren’t cheating on us. This is not a loyalty issue. This is the next generation of workforce,’” she said. 

Polywork Makes Employees Better at Their Jobs

Approximately 46% of all employees have a second stream of income, according to the Paychex report. Many of them do so as a passion project or to create a safety net for themselves, Tanner pointed out. Allowing employees to pursue both of those things lowers their stress levels, which also makes them better workers, she said. 

“This is not supposed to be scary. This can be a really great thing when you get it working right,” Tanner said. “What if it makes them better at their job? More fulfilled employees are more productive.” It also can create loyalty, which makes your workforce more stable, she added. 

Employees’ side gigs often let them build skills they bring back to their main role — 17% of polyworkers said they take extra roles to build skills for their career, according to Oeconomus.

“Polyworkers bring skills back. Use them. If they’re getting that on their own via a side hustle or two? Ok! Thanks!” Tanner said.  Employers who want to foster this should be saying, “if it doesn’t conflict with us, by all means come here with your upskilled selves,” she added. 

Seminar: Employee Relations — Creating a Positive Work Environment

How to Spot Good vs. Bad Polywork

More employees are “putting it all out there” when it comes to their side gigs, Tanner said. Managers should be the ones to have a conversation with an employee who is doing outside work, but what that conversation entails depends on whether the work is affecting their performance. 

Polywork green flags: If the employees’ performance is steady and they are engaged, if they are transparent about the other work they’re doing, if that work does not present a conflict of interest, and if they are using their own tools and doing the outside work on their own time, those are all indicators that your organization can leave it alone, Tanner said. 

Red flags: Alternatively, if an employee’s output is slipping, they are burnt out or disengaged, a manager notes major gaps in their availability during work hours, or the manager has knowledge they are using company resources for their other job, it’s imperative they act. 

Policy: Code of Ethics and Business Conduct

Conversation is Key

Either way, this should be a conversation, Tanner said. “If they lock up, that’s really telling too,” she said. 

Sample talking points could be as follows: 

• Starting point: “Hey, I noticed you’re doing some pretty cool things outside of your work here. I’d love to hear more about it.”
• Collaborate to solve any issues that have arisen: “Let’s discuss what this looks like for you and the team.”  
• If the situation needs correcting: “Here’s what I need from you in your role. We need to discuss if this is still the right fit, and if it can accommodate what [other work] you have out there.”

And though HR is the one who implements the policy, those conversations should be happening between the employee and their manager — with the right training of course. 

“Managers need to have that conversation,” Tanner said. "You can teach them but let them do it.”

Polywork Policy Prerogatives 

Many of the dual- or polywork horror stories from recent years stemmed from the lack of a clear policy at those employers, Tanner said. “When there’s no policy clarity, people will take advantage and employers will knee jerk react every time,” she said.  

That’s why it’s imperative that HR professionals update their current policies — many of which may still be called moonlighting policies given that former term for the practice. Anything that is more than two years old should be refreshed, Tanner advises.

There are five things a strong outside work policy does, according to Tanner: 

• Mitigates conflicts of interest: Lay out specifically what employees can and can’t work on, what they can share and can’t share outside the company. 
• Safeguards company resources: Make clear that employees should not be using company technology — including things like AI tool subscriptions — for their other jobs. 
• Provides clear disclosure and approval requirements: The policy should require what employees must disclose (who/what/where), fill out a form, and attest they’ve read and understand the policy. “It’s not a handshake deal,” Tanner said. “Because when you deal with things inconsistently, oftentimes that ends up with liab[ility] situations.”
• Monitors performance and burnout: Policies should specify that performance at employer’s workplace must not be affected by the outside work, and if it is, employees will be subject to regular performance management processes. 
• Ensures legal and regulatory compliance: The policy should address any potential legal issues that could arise from the employee’s outside work, including confidentiality or ethics issues. 

Template: Outside Work Policy

What your policies and practices should not do, according to Tanner, is forbid hobbies or non-conflicting freelance work, or use blanket surveillance to enforce the policy. 

Tanner encourages HR to initiate these discussions with senior leaders, and to help them see the strategic value of seeing polywork as creativity, not competition.

“You don’t have to love the side hustle. You just have to stop being threatened by it,” she said.