[tomkat0789]

Your day job is OK with this? I forgot what I signed, but I believe my contract has a clause that says they own all the technical output of my brain. Did you tell your manager you have a side hustle?

I've been thinking of something similar if I can build a sufficiently relevant specialty knowledge.

[utjutj]

I am not sure why people keep repeating this. As long as you are not using company's property or time, what you do in your personal time is your business, not your employer's.

IANAL, but I believe in some states it is completely illegal for employers to add such clauses in employment contracts. Even if that clause exist, it is highly unlikely to be enforced in courts. We need to stop taking this abuse or living in fear of our employers.

Again standard disclosure, talk to a lawyer.

[krasin]

It depends on the place you live, but in California there's a law that explicitly allows side hustles aka moonlighting: https://www.mossbollinger.com/my-employer-prohibits-me-from-... (conditions and restrictions apply, as usual)

[MrDresden]

Why would anyone ever sign such a contract?

I'm certain it would not be considered legal where I am from.

[tonyedgecombe]

>Why would anyone ever sign such a contract?

Because they want a job?

[MrDresden]

That is not justification enough.

And given this particular industry, there shouldn't be a need for anyone to give away that much to their employer. Simply walk away and find another position.

And before it is mentioned, ofcourse there are niche situations where that one and only position with this requirement is available and nothing else. But those are outliers and not worth mentioning.

[tonyedgecombe]

>But those are outliers and not worth mentioning.

What an entitled and out of touch attitude.

[MrDresden]

In the context of how not to be screwed over by an employer, and with the frequency and distribution of tech jobs in mind then yes, I believe that the number of situations where no alternative positions exists and the employer requires the complete sign over of all IP generated by the employee at all time to be so low it has no meaningful impact on the discussion.

And thus brings no value to such a discussion. That does not mean I dismiss the existence of such situations. I simply decide to see the whole forest, rather than focusing on a single tree.

And in case it had eluded you, we who work in the tech industry (which I would hazard a guess is the majority here on HN) are all privileged beyond what most of humanity has ever experienced in terms of job security and wages (even when taking into account the great big gab between the lowest and highest levels).

[rcstank]

Many places are fine with it as long as you don’t let your side gig interfere.