Updated
Signs an employee may have a second full-time job, and what to do
No single sign proves a second job. Each one below has ordinary explanations, such as caregiving, illness or burnout. Treat them as a reason to look at the work and at your policy, and talk to HR and counsel before you raise a second job with anyone.
Signs managers and employment lawyers have reported
01
Performance that drops, or never starts.
The CEO of Canopy said two newly hired engineers performed poorly from the start, and both turned out to hold second full-time jobs. SHRM and Inc. each list declining productivity first, and each warns that poor performance alone proves nothing.
Benzinga, via Yahoo Finance, February 2025 · SHRM, October 2023 · Inc., January 2024
02
Cameras off, late arrivals and missed meetings.
Both appear in the Canopy account. The employment law firm Payne & Fears lists missing meetings during set hours, frequent lateness and seeming inattentive in meetings.
Benzinga, via Yahoo Finance, February 2025 · Payne & Fears LLP, December 2023
03
Slow replies and long gaps.
Canopy's managers noticed slow responses to messages and email. Payne & Fears lists long stretches of unexplained inactivity.
Benzinga, via Yahoo Finance, February 2025 · Payne & Fears LLP, December 2023
04
Resistance to coming on site.
Payne & Fears lists refusing to work on site without a valid reason. The firm adds that remote, consulting and sales roles, where oversight is limited, make a second job harder to spot.
05
Details that point to another employer.
Another job listed on LinkedIn, or a profile set to private. Emails from a known employee sent from an unfamiliar company address. Documents or system logs that show work done for someone else. At Canopy, both engineers had also declined the company's health insurance, which many people do for ordinary reasons.
Payne & Fears LLP, December 2023 · Inc., January 2024 · Benzinga, via Yahoo Finance, February 2025
How employers have actually found out
In most documented cases, the answer came from outside the manager's own observation.
01
The other employer raised it.
In one case SHRM describes, a senior employee was doing the same job for another company during the same hours, and the other company alerted the first.
02
Payroll records were compared.
A Washington State audit matched payroll records across agencies and found 93 employees on two public payrolls. Equifax compared more than 1,000 of its own workers against payroll records and found 25 with a second job.
Washington State Auditor, December 2024 · Tech.co, citing Business Insider, October 2022
03
Someone named the person in public.
In 2025 one founder's public warning about a software engineer led other founders to compare notes and find they had each hired him.
04
Managers followed up on the work.
At Canopy, managers acted on poor early performance and, in the CEO's account, found both second jobs quickly.
What to do if you suspect it
01
Start with the work.
Write down the missed commitments and address them as a performance issue. Inc.'s reporting makes the same point: deal with the work first, and do not assume a second job without solid evidence.
02
Read your own policy and agreements.
Check whether they require employees to disclose outside work and whether they say anything about a second full-time job. SHRM, Inc. and Payne & Fears all point to a written disclosure requirement. If yours is silent, that is the first gap to close.
SHRM, October 2023 · Inc., January 2024 · Payne & Fears LLP, December 2023
03
Bring in HR and employment counsel before you raise it.
Payne & Fears advises confirming the facts before discussing them with anyone else, and warns that an investigation can raise privacy, trade secret and conflict-of-interest questions. Rules on what an employer may restrict differ by state. Leave any investigation to HR and counsel.
04
Have a private conversation, and ask before you assume.
SHRM's sources recommend a confidential conversation to learn what is going on before deciding anything. Some cases turn out to be a misunderstanding or a need that a schedule change can meet. Others are a policy violation, and discipline follows your policy.
05
Close the gap for next time.
Payne & Fears recommends setting expectations during recruiting, requiring written disclosure of roles that could create a conflict, and stating plainly that outside work may not use company hours or resources.
Where Narq fits
The Outside-Work Policy Review looks at how your policies and agreements handle a second full-time job and where the gaps are. Narq is also building consent-based verification, with no screen or keystroke monitoring. It is in development.