Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#1

Post by le-mark » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:01 PM UTC

Confession time, has anyone ever done this? Given the number of bored developers in this thread[1], it seems like a given that this happens. Have any of you maintained more than one remote job at at time? If so what obstacles did you encounter? Would you do it again? Any tips or techniques to go unnoticed?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14290518

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#2

Post by senatorobama » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:14 PM UTC

Great idea, but do remote employees get paid the same? Say 100k+ for an SF based company?

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#3

Post by jaboutboul » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:15 PM UTC

senatorobama wrote: post #2

Great idea, but do remote employees get paid the same? Say 100k+ for an SF based company?

In my experience, yes. Any good company will not want to lose the right person because of location or pay.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#4

Post by pplonski86 » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:16 PM UTC

No! I'll feel bad to cheat someone else - and I don't like to feel bad:)

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#5

Post by ChicagoBoy11 » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:20 PM UTC

I can see how this would go south really quick once skype meetings / in-person events start to collide. I think for the RIGHT type of remote work one may be able to pull this off for a while, but I can't imagine that full-time, well-paying remote dev roles could be juggled like this.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#6

Post by marktangotango » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:20 PM UTC

I heard second hand about a guy at a Carribean resort who was doing this. I've been tempted to do it myself :)

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#7

Post by EduardoBautista » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:21 PM UTC

senatorobama wrote: post #2

Great idea, but do remote employees get paid the same? Say 100k+ for an SF based company?

Lol I had to negotiate to get about a quarter of that salary. I know Travis CI limits your pay to your region. GitLab as well. Difference from Mexico to San Francisco is about 4x.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#8

Post by MichaelGG » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:23 PM UTC

EduardoBautista wrote: post #7

senatorobama wrote: post #2

Great idea, but do remote employees get paid the same? Say 100k+ for an SF based company?

Lol I had to negotiate to get about a quarter of that salary. I know Travis CI limits your pay to your region. GitLab as well. Difference from Mexico to San Francisco is about 4x.

That's messed up. Unless there's a separate component like local-cost-of-living-adjustment where you get extra for living in a high-rent area.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#9

Post by moduspol » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:26 PM UTC

pplonski86 wrote: post #4

No! I'll feel bad to cheat someone else - and I don't like to feel bad:)

I don't want to be "that guy," but...

If it's a salaried position, you're presumably not filling in an hours sheet dishonestly.

Is it truly cheating if both companies are happy with your work and you're not breaking either company's rules? Even if you don't explicitly tell them you're doing it?

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#10

Post by ShakataGaNai » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:26 PM UTC

There are more than a few stories of things like this happening (or my favorite, outsourcing the actual dev work to China or india) but why would you when it's a lawsuit waiting to happen? Freelancing on the side a little bit is one thing (Basecamp's handbook which was recently posted on HN even had a section on this https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/moonlightin... ), but working a full on second job? If either found out they'd probably extremely concerned about IP theft either direction.

Plus, why have the stress of two jobs and two sets of potentially colliding meetings? Mrs Doubtfire for the corporate world sounds like a funny movie, terrible life.