Is it ethical for a salaried developer to do "personal" or non job-related work on the job? For example, coding another website? What if it is during his/her break time?
+1
A:
During the break time? Be careful, because you're using your employers equipment, and you're ultimately committing yourself to more than just their interest too. Conflict of interest possibly. During the normal work hours, yes, you should focus on the work provided by he who feeds your family.
Jonathan Sampson
2009-06-17 01:00:58
+16
A:
Don't. Just don't.
You're going to run into legal issues with who owns that work, if anything. I keep work and personal entirely separate. My company gives me a laptop, and this makes it particularly easy. Anything personal stays on my personal laptop, anything company related my work laptop, and only the company laptop goes with me to work. Done. Anything that I work on personal-wise is all in my mind.
Thanatos
2009-06-17 01:01:55
Even separation of equipment is not enough. Doing something on your own time that your employer also pays you to do (salaried or hourly) belongs to them. If you do anything on your own time that might conflict, talk with your employer and get them to explicitly give permission and waive rights. If your project becomes a major success they can sue for ownership and all profits derived from the work.
Paul Alexander
2009-06-17 02:59:41
+2
A:
In my opinion, no. You should not use your employers equipment or facilities to do your personal work. At my company we don't have "company time," so it's a little more grey as to when you do your personal stuff versus company stuff. But, were I to do personal work, I would to it on my own equipment (including internet connection) off the company's facilities.
The exception to this is where the company expressly allows it. For example, we allow consultants working for us to use our internet connection which they potentially might use for other work.
JP Alioto
2009-06-17 01:02:36
+3
A:
Most employment contracts state that anything you create on company time is owned by the company. So even if you don't mind cheating your employer out of the time you're selling them for your salary, you may want to think twice about this. Suppose "another website" actually becomes successful.
Jan Goyvaerts
2009-06-17 01:03:08
"Most employment contracts state that anything you create on company time is owned by the company." A lot of contracts state that anything you create *at all* is owned by the company, if it is of use in the company's business. If in doubt, explain the nature of the project and get a copyright disclaimer. That might have to come from director level of the company, though, so could be tricky unless you work for a reasonably small company.
Steve Jessop
2009-06-17 01:26:21
+2
A:
Not a lawyer but I've researched this a lot myself. Under most circumstances the product of any work that you do that is the same as you perform for your employer is owned by the employer. So even on your break time if you're doing the same thing you'd be doing for them then they own it. If you're doing work that might overlap in practice with your current employer you'll want to talk to them directly and obtain approval and a waiver of ownership.
This also applies to stuff you do after hours. For example the guys at Apple had to get permission from HP to work on their "little PC project".
Paul Alexander
2009-06-17 01:04:18
+4
A:
From an employer perspective:
Save it for home, or after hours. Lots of our guys have side projects, but if I were to learn that they were working on them during the day, it would raise some serious questions.
- Ensure that it is not a conflict of interest.
- Ensure that it is not draining your ability to perform at work.
Given those two criteria, side projects should not be a problem. However, if it is in a grey area, seek approval and/or keep them in the loop. Remember, your employer pays you for your time to do their tasks.
Regarding conflicts of interest -- is it something the company may engage in? If so, why haven't you brought the business to them? (is an obvious question)
Just some food for thought.
gahooa
2009-06-17 01:04:35
+1
A:
The way I see it is if you're being paid by the hour, then when you're on the clock, the company owns you. You shouldn't be doing anything other than work-related while you're on the clock.
On the other hand, if you're salaried, it's a little different. The company isn't paying you for your time. They're paying you for your output. As long as you are giving them output that satisfies your work contract, do whatever you want.
nbv4
2009-06-17 01:09:11
+2
A:
As every else says, absolutely not, but in addition be careful!
Employers often make you sign papers when you start with them saying that they own anything you produce. PERIOD. Your time, their time, heck, some even try to take things you created after you've quit or been fired!
If you EVER touched it at work, they have a much stronger case. Heck, they may not even need a signed contract to take your code.
This has actually been done--companies have taken completely unrelated programs created by employees at home on their own equipment in their own time via the courts. They may even be able to take money they have earned with the program--leaving you owing them if you'd already spent some!
The upshot is you may actually want to ask permission before starting on any project in writing.
I've always been a little concerned about how this would interact with open source as well. If you didn't notice that your employer had such a document, would they be able to steal your open source contributions created at home on your own time as well!!!?!? That could effect a lot of open source contributers.
By the way, I'm not sure, but the newest contracts could possibly even be applied to books you might write, or screen plays, or paintings.
Not that I think they would get away with stealing those more obviously traditional hobby artifacts, but I think the wording would allow for it.
Bill K
2009-06-17 01:19:54
They wouldn't be able to "steal" them. Most likely they'd own them, and you'd have "stolen" them when you submitted them to the FOSS project. They could sue you, and in theory the FOSS project could probably sue you too for contributing code to them without telling them it was owned by your employer and that you had no authority to license or distribute it. Get permission whether the project is FOSS or not.
Steve Jessop
2009-06-17 01:33:44
Yes you are correct--that is my point. That the company considers something you do in your spare time at home "Theft", when actually I consider a company trying to take something that they had nothing to do with "Theft". All in the eyes of the beholder. Sorry for the political rant--this isn't the place for it.
Bill K
2009-06-17 16:33:26
+2
A:
Technically your break is being paid for by the boss so you can have a break as opposed to working. Your contract includes many details including when you can have a break - an they wont hassle you to work.
mP
2009-06-17 01:24:48