Side hustle on top of 100% job

[dbu]

I’m quite positive you are overblowing the issue.

The only likely downside is that the HR might laugh you out of the room when you report and tell them it’s about 50chf/month, but at least you did the right thing.

[MrCheese]

@Jarvis

Well, most of the time, I am not “working” on this website with the equipment of my company. As I mentioned, I use it from time to time to do so. It’s not black and white.
But you have a good point here.
I should probably have my own device handy every time I travel.

Mega corp had the same US clauses related all work on company devices belongs to them which made me split the use uf devices very very strictly. In the new company I often see people using the company owned devices for their private stuff… can’t recommend, just buy your own instead.

[Johnny_B]

Hi Jarvis,

I strongly recommend obtaining a proper approval from your employer to earn money on the side.

I did so a few years ago just to cover potential earnings from such a business. What I took away from that episode:

1. Check what your contract says about using equipment for other than work-related purposed. If it’s not absolutely forbidden, using equipment a few hours per week will not violate the general contract.

2. When companies give permission, they have to and will remind you of the limitations of the side hustle, as others have written. This is particularly relevant if you have a 100% contract, because no employer wants to have an employee that is overworked and not fully focused on the contractually obliged work. So you mustn’t use all of your vacation for working on the side, you need recover for your main job. Same for maximum weekly hours and minimum breaks between work (main or side job). at a minimum, they have a right to assess potential interference (=being a competition) with your main job and their business. From what I heard, this part is usually not an issue, i. e. they can only refuse permission with very good reason.

3. As others have written: Even if you’re a happy employee, don’t give more information than necessary when requesting permission. In this case: What you’re doing = blogging + affiliate marketing. How much you intend to earn (or are earning) is not a required information and something strictly between you and the tax authorities.

So in your situation: Get permission with the minimum information, enjoy the pocket money and develop your side hustle. It seems that while many side hustle aren’t superior to, e. g., negotiating a higher salary or switching jobs, they have beneficial side effects.

Otherwise: Awkward situation when someone finds out about your side hustle without you having asked for permission. Many people have such a permission, so getting one raises fewer eyebrows that you might imagine.

Obligatory qualifier: I’m not a professional adviser in these matters. A little bit of googling shows a good article for people in Switzerland at The Poor Swiss (very thorough and practical, as always) and zurichtogeneva.com (esp. on the non-monetary aspects).

Cheers,

J.

[Jarvis]

Hi everyone,
Thanks to all of you for your valuable inputs (I know it takes time to write these lengthy comments).

For now, I am not doing anything. As I stated earlier, the internal rules of my company state that if one has a side gig he has to inform the employer by filling a specific form. I did not find that form in our intranet (but I did not spend time to look in the other two languages - I already faced that problem in the past: some forms are not available in all languages). I am not ruling out informing my employer. I will just wait a little before deciding.

Meanwhile, I am starting a new blog. In case I inform them and they ask more detailed questions about my site, I will show this new site. I would understand if they asked about it: for example, to ensure I am not using my knowledge from the company to earn money on the side. I do not want to divulgate my first site as I am mentioning personal issues I do not want to reveal.

One of my colleagues (which I am not very close to) mentioned once that he has been doing consulting work for third parties. He’s a director in our firm and I expect him to earn quite a lot and I have been very surprised that he mentioned that side gig so casually. I will try to get the opportunity to ask him, in the coming weeks, if he declared it to the company. His consulting work is based on the same knowledge he is using for his main job, which is not the case for my website. If he asks questions about my site, I will have the new site to show.

Let’s be honest. That small side gig earned me $25 in January, $37 in February and is getting towards $60 in March. It’s growing slowly, but it’s growing. Now that I got a taste of it, I want more. I will grow this thing.

My primary focus is my day job. I work hard, I am getting results for my employer, and I am grateful for the pay and the opportunities that have been given to me so far. But, in face of uncertainties and in order to get closer to FIRE, one needs to multiply its sources of income.

Even if it’s not much, I push for income stream diversification (real estate, that side gig). Except from my 3a pillar, I am currently out of the stock market (but I am ready to jump in once things settle a bit).

I will probably inform my employer in the course of the year. But it’s not a sure thing.
If this site is still growing, I will certainly create a LLC next year in order to have it manage that side gig. At that point I might outsource some of the work in order to grow it more passively.
That’s the plan.

Things never go as planned. But once you have a plan, you can review it and adapt it (based on the data you gather).

My website is also helping people (it’s not all about money). I feel a little proud about that.
And I am not entirely greedy (at least I hope I am not). I gave a few hundred bucks for Ukraine charity last week (more than I will earn this year with this side gig, which will not be deductible) because I am really depressed when I see what happens over there.
The earnings from that side gig are for more security (and possibly resilience in face of possible hard times to come).

Anyway, thanks for your inputs and comments. I appreciate it.
It’s a great community.

[FIREstarter]

@Patron

As soon as it goes into content marketing or affiliate marketing with links with which you earn a commission, you need a full imprint (it doesn’t have to be called like that but there needs to be a page with full name, address (no P.O. Box!), and contact details).

@Patron

Edit: Just read on a lawyers website, that in some cases even some private websites without monetising but they have EU visitors then they need to be DSGVO compliant which mandates having a data privacy section on the website that basically requires the same info.

@Barto

Wouldn’t MP need to do this - perhaps he found a workaround?

I’d like to raise some more questions regarding this topic. I have some .com domains registered for a while now, and was thinking about starting a private blog (that though has been there for 2 years or even longer). So far, I really hesitated to do it exactly because of the reasons mentioned above.

I know that some other forum member also run websites under pseudonymes where the only contact information is either an email address or a contact form. Some of the websites also have affiliate links or are offering services. I don’t want to link any of you directly, because I don’t want to raise more awareness.

From what I read so far: even a private website without any affiliate or services offered needs to be DSGVO compliant if it can be reached from an EU country. (thanks for nothing, EU parliament…)

Also the two websites mentioned by @Johnny_B don’t have a proper imprint. I understand that protecting your identity is important (MP for starters) when it comes to a sensitive topic like money, but how are people dealing with the risk?

I know in Switzerland you don’t have lawyers threating to sue you because of a missing imprint, but e.g. in Germany there are companies specialized on this topic.

So, to summarize: how are people who are running an anonymous website dealing with the risk of being sued / having to pay?