Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#11

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

I did a short term contract once at the same time as my main remote job. I never lied about my hours or got overpaid though. I won't ever do it again as it was a hellish amount of work for a few months. For me the cost of context switching on my productivity was higher than I anticipated.

Of course you could probably get away with having two remote jobs at once.... for a while. Unless you're monstrously productive, it seems like either it would get noticed eventually or you would get burned out. But everyone is different I guess. I'd rather have a life that isn't so stressful and complicated.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#12

Post by Daishiman » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:29 PM UTC

It's possible, but really it's actually no different than holding an office job in which you're not being checked upon. More than one person has been selling things on the side, outsourcing work to their own devs, and schemes like that.

Not really a good idea as far as developing a reputation for trustworthiness.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#13

Post by zupreme » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:29 PM UTC

This actually happens all the time. We've had a couple of remote employees I'm aware of who did this.

As a company we don't care. As long as they are getting all of our work done in a timely and effective manner what they fill their time gaps with is not our concern.

Note that our remote workers are not hourly workers. If they were, then we'd take a much different approach to time management and dedicated focus.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#14

Post by acconrad » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:30 PM UTC

Since when is working two jobs a bad thing? Plenty of people work two or three jobs to make ends meet. If you can make both work, and you aren't violating any contracts or NDAs, I don't see why you should feel bad about that.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#15

Post by rb808 » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:32 PM UTC

I knew of a guy who worked two jobs on-site - was about 3 months before he was caught. I think he worked as a contractor and billed through two different agencies. Started early on one job, late at the other on a different floor and lots of meetings away from desk inbetween. :)

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#16

Post by omgthowaway » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:33 PM UTC

Remote full-time employee here for a SF-based company.

I occasionally do 1099 work for friends, but always on evening or weekend hours. I always use my own time and computing resources for the work.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#17

Post by fragmede » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:34 PM UTC

MichaelGG wrote: post #8

EduardoBautista wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

...yes?

Cost of living between Mexico to San Francisco probably in the neighborhood of 4x, depending on which part of Mexico. 500000 MXN rounds to $25k, which is 1/4 of $100k.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#18

Post by taternuts » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:34 PM UTC

senatorobama wrote: post #2

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

No. Not unless you get lucky or are incredible and in demand from other SF companies they know. Remote work is fantastic for people who don't care about living in a place with a higher cost of living. I personally think it's a huge perk that companies are willing to pay your rent if you move to a beautiful place, but then again I've come to dislike a fully remote job after doing it for a couple years.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#19

Post by snarfy » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:36 PM UTC

I've seen it done onsite.

There was a guy who worked an 8-5 job in my building and the building next door simultaneously. He would show up, look busy, then run next door and do the same thing. He did this for about 8 months before one of his managers caught on and told his other manager. He ended up losing both jobs at the same time.

Re: Ask HN: Remote Employees Double-Dipping?

#20

Post by VLM » Tue, May 09, 2017, 3:40 PM UTC

I've done plenty of volunteer work while working a salaried position over the last couple decades. My day job has nothing to do with swinging a hammer, being a youth group treasurer, serving on a youth group advisory board, grunt work at the food pantry, grunt work on hiking trails, being a member of the Army Reserve (although scheduling was an unholy PITA for that and the pay rounded down to nothing once I got a real job). All of those volunteer jobs are paid by someone, I just wasn't charging. Technically my salaried day job owned all that I produced like a slave (which I was), so I was stealing from the company when I cleared hiking trails with the club on a Saturday afternoon, no different than if I broke into the cash box and helped myself.