Exclusive Service and Moonlighting

You have ONE job.

Employment with Treefrog is on an “Exclusive Service” basis. This means that a Treefrog employee cannot perform work, paid or not paid, for a client or for himself or herself “after hours”. This is known as moonlighting.

Treefrog is a service business with flexible hours for salaried people, offering multiple products and services, and we represent dozens of skills and disciplines. This is a complex issue with a spectrum of possible conflicts. It would be a bureaucratic nightmare to police or describe all of the specifics of a policy - or monitor the slippage as a quick consultation on the side slips into a full-blown side job. Therefore, we make it simple - do not moonlight. Balance your life by putting your work energy into Treefrog, and spending the rest of your time doing something completely different and preferably fun.

Is having a job working for a competitor on the side OK? How about working for a client? Or maybe just doing a little late-at-night work for a friend? Or what about a quick job on the weekend for an extra buck? Where should the line be drawn?

We make it simple, to avoid complex situations. Bottom line, if you are a salaried employee, we pay for your exclusive service at Treefrog, meaning you cannot work elsewhere, or get paid by someone else to do something which relates directly or indirectly to the current business of Treefrog.

Types of Moonlighting

If you are doing work after hours that is relating directly or indirectly to the business of Treefrog or damaging your ability to give your 100% to your team, then you are moonlighting. Some of these are in direct conflict of interest with the business of Treefrog, and some are not. This work can fall into a few different areas:

Moonlighting: Not OK

Competitive Conflict of Interest - You are doing work for someone whose work “could have been done by Treefrog” for pay. If a sales person at Treefrog would sell it, and Treefrog could get paid for the work instead of you, you are taking work away from your team.
Direct Conflict of Interest - You are doing work for one of our clients on the side. If a client is paying you directly or indirectly (and not through Treefrog), you have crossed the line.
Second Completely Unrelated Job - You have a second paid job completely unrelated to Treefrog. (i.e. being a waitress or an actor, a nurse or a roofing contractor). What percentage of your energy has Treefrog paid for, if not all of it?
For a Good Cause - You are doing work that Treefrog would usually do, but you have rationalized doing it for a “family member”, or a “not for profit”, or because “the client could not afford Treefrog’s pricing”, or you feel obligated to do it for the individual because of your relationship with them. You could be doing it for free, or for pay, or for free for someone else who is getting paid, such as, a family member.
Collusion work - You are doing something that involves various members of Treefrog working on the side, utilizing the same skills they apply at Treefrog, which results in revenue.
Treefrog Toolset - You are doing something which results in revenue that requires or utilizes assets Treefrog pays for (computers, paper, pens, you name it), Treefrog’s relationships, Treefrog’s brand, or anything else connected to Treefrog.
Hobby Work: Related - You have a regular “hobby” on the side that generates regular revenue, that potentially conflicts with Treefrog’s business (e.g. a little job off on the side for Upwork or 99 Designs). It’s not a hobby, nice try.
Side Start-up: Related - You are working on putting together the pieces to compete with Treefrog on the side. Really? Yer kidding me, right?

OK

Community Support - You are working for a not for profit on the side to help the community to do work that does not create a conflict of interest with Treefrog’s products or services (i.e. handing out hotdogs, or Run for the Cure).
Religious Activity Work - Helping your local Church or Mosque is awesome. Do your thing, providing it does not relate directly or indirectly to the business of Treefrog. (e.g. building a website for your church is not a religious activity).
Hobby: Unrelated and UNpaid - You have a regular “hobby” on the side that consumes much of your time (woodworking, computer games, makerspacing). If you do not get paid for it, it is a “hobby” not “hobby work”, and thus, not relevant. Your brain needs these for balance and break. Do more of this!
Hobby Work: Unrelated and PAID - You have a regular “hobby” on the side that generates regular revenue (i.e. selling soap or selling tupperware) that does not relate directly or indirectly to the business of Treefrog (read: it is not currently something our sales people would sell). If you do get paid for it, consider how much it affects your commitment to your full-time role (e.g. Do you lose sleep? Will it make you late for work regularly? Will it affect your ability to focus during the day? Does it lead to your being distracted while at work?).
Side Start-up: Unrelated - You have decided to start your own business on the side that “would eventually take over your job at Treefrog” but “has nothing to do with Treefrog”. Sure, it’s OK if you are planning to go off and do something else - but don’t mind if Treefrog suddenly has an equally soft loyalty to yourself and helps you go off on your own sooner than expected.

*Note that every single example used above is something that we have had to deal with at Treefrog over the years.

Note that our contracts are very clear on the matter - you have agreed to “exclusive service” with Treefrog, and any work you do on the side in conflict with Treefrog is grounds to lose your job without warning. We are not an hourly-pay company. We pay you a salary for your time and energy with lots of bells and whistles, and the mutuality inherent in that expectation is that all of your professional energy is committed to Treefrog.

Please note that we have made offers to potential superstar employees who would not sign this agreement in the past, and we have not hired them. This is core to the spirit of Treefrog employment. Treefrog has your back, and you have Treefrog’s back - Frog for Life.

The Rationale

At the root of our policy, our intent is not to be draconian and make your life miserable or prevent you from being successful. There are some simple issues that need to be addressed:

Total Net Energy - If you are working at another organization or have another job after hours or on weekends, you are not re-charging effectively in your time off. This will lead you to having less energy, be more difficult and grumpy with other Frogs, and lose variables and information relevant to your salaried role when the other job creates stress and exhaustion. You are less valuable to Treefrog, and we should not have to pay your full-salaried price for a fraction of your energy and ongoing reduced mental capacity. You are undermining your future here and compromising other team members’ ability to do things effectively.
Competing for Time - Our philosophy enables you to take time off during Treefrog hours to make your life less stressful. If you have another job, it is Treefrog and your peers that suffer when you need to use Treefrog’s time to buy groceries or get sick from exhaustion regardless of whether it is directly related to the other position or not. At the core of our magnificent flexibility is the assumption that we are not flexing around another company’s work schedule but around your “life” where “life” allows an individual to recharge, do new, exciting and interesting activities that allow you to grow as an individual, and have fun.
People Need Balance - Seriously, your brain needs to separate itself from day-to-day work on a regular basis in order for you to not go insane. If you do nothing but work, you’ll reach the end of your life with regrets. This rule protects you from your future self.
You are Treefrog’s Competitor - If you are doing work that Treefrog would do, irrelevant of trappings of price, etc., you are a competitor. As delicately as one may attempt to rationalize it - this damages Treefrog.
You are Leveraging Treefrog’s Investments for your Own Gain - Let us presume you are not using Treefrog’s assets, such as, software, a computer, or a document Treefrog has paid to put together, for your own purposes. Doing these things would be a blatant conflict of interest (and likely, illegal). However, the education, knowledge, processes, etc. that you have developed at Treefrog belongs to us as a team to use to grow as a group. Using these soft investments externally undermines Treefrog’s value in the marketplace. Why would anyone pay for a logo if you can lean on a designer to get one for free?
You are Damaging the Marketplace - You wonder why we have difficulty articulating the value of your Treefrog work to clients - and you want more hours within a project to do a better job (which then costs the client more), and additionally you want to be recognized for excellent work through a raise; and yet, you are creating a competitive environment where people believe they should be able to get the services you less expensively.
You are Creating Competitors for OUR Clients - So, you build a website that has nothing to do with our clients, and suddenly, we get a client in the same space. Treefrog now has to either fire you, or the client has potential grounds to sue Treefrog. Further, your side-client could end up competing with Treefrog and be oblivious to the conflict.
It Usually Goes Sideways - We have created a very complex mechanism to bill, protect, clarify, and deliver our products and services. When you do work on your own, you could get sued, have to stay up ridiculously late, have to take time off, have to cancel your plans, have to have multiple accounts, etc. Your projects can and will go sideways, adding stress and complexity, and reducing your value to Treefrog and your team.
You Have Created a Potential Legal Issue - You represent Treefrog even when you are not at work. If you are working off-hours, the client for whom you have agreed to do the work could lay claim that your equipment/knowledge/whatever was connected to Treefrog. Treefrog has now been dragged into your fight without proper protections for which we pay so dearly.
You Lessen Your Passion - If you make a thousand widgets during the day and love doing it and then go home and make widgets on the side for fun or for profit, eventually, your passion for making widgets will burn out. You may think it will not, but your brain needs balance to be fully self-actualized. You need a break from work.
You are Setting a Cultural Precedent - Sure, doing that one thing is not a big deal. Suddenly, someone is a full-time nurse on the side, taking days off to get shifts and thinks it is OK because “Treefrog has flexible hours”.
Your Tools aren’t Necessarily Your Own - As more and more tools move to the cloud, Treefrog pays for more and more of your toolset. How can you gurantee that you aren’t using Treefrog’s money to do work on the side?

It is pretty much impossible to work a second job and not compromise your work at Treefrog. Ultimately, your working on the side affects us all negatively. You are making a decision that affects Treefrog and your team members drastically by choosing to engage in activity that could be Treefrog-related outside of Treefrog.

Why Would Anyone Engage in Conflict of Interest Work?

You are Broke and Need More Money - If this is the case and you are working your full expectation of work hours, Treefrog would be happy to engage you in a for-pay side contract to do something else (Treefrog’s version of Overtime). A “ninja project” as it were. Although this may push the boundaries of the ESA, Employment Standard Act, as it would not be time tracked by Treefrog, we would rather you get exhausted adding value to Treefrog, even if it is outside your current skill set, rather than trigger all of the points above. Imagine getting paid to improve LEAP, or paint some walls? Imagine improving your own day-job life with your night-time life? Alternatively, you have the wrong career-choice VS lifestyle mix. Let us talk about it.

You Want to Help a Not-For-Profit - Great, Treefrog would love to participate too as it is part of our bottom line as a company. Bring your project forward and let us consider doing the project together where the whole team has your back. We do discounted and free work on a regular basis as a group.

You are Getting Peer Pressured from Family, Church, or Friends - Often we get attacked to do something on the side because “our mom cannot afford it”. After reading all of the points above, if you still believe you must do work for said individual and cannot use the excuse “but I could get fired over it”, then it must be really, really important to you. Let us talk about it.

Your Mom Has a Web Company - Your Mom just started a web company, and you think you should help her as it keeps money in the family. Every court in the world would arrive at the same conclusion - you should go work for her full-time, or call her out for child abuse.

You are Bored - Your Champion can cure your boredom pretty quickly. Please go see him or her immediately.

Self-Improvement - OK, this is a reasonable rationale. You want to learn to do something and are willing to work on the side to improve your skills in order to improve your value to Treefrog. Please note, if this is your 5th Wordpress site that you are getting paid to do, I do not think you have much to stand on. However, I agree, there is no reason to not get paid to do something ONCE. Disclose it. Let us talk about the effect on the team as a whole.

You Want to Keep Old Clients Alive in Case You Lose Your Job - You have a decision to make. Are you in, or are you out? If you want to ensure you will never lose all of your pay, then get 5 part-time jobs and de-risk your job portfolio - but Treefrog isn’t the place for you, where we are all in, all the time. Treefrog doesn’t fire people unless under extraordinary circumstances or they really deserve it - we are all in it together.

Got another rationale? Let’s address it.

The Bottom Line

The key question that puts your work in critical danger is, “Are you in direct conflict with Treefrog and with the current thing you do on the side?” The Acid Test to determining whether you are in direct conflict with the work you are performing is easy. Ask yourself the question, “Would Treefrog sell this irrelevant of the trappings of price, quality, goals, etc.?” If you are confused or if it is a grey area, you need to ask the CEO if it crosses the line or not.

Second Completely Different Job Conflicts - If you are working a second job, “Energy Draining Work”, you are less valuable to Treefrog for what we are paying you. You need to disclose this fact, and it needs to be considered the next time you are eligible for a raise, re-thinking your role, etc. We reserve the right to not pay you the percentage of time under 40 hours a week that you have not worked and re-set your salary at this lower level moving forward if you wish to keep your job. We also reserve the right to give you more free time to pursue this work. All of it, in fact.

Hobby Work Conflicts - If you have a hobby on the side that leads to revenue, you need to disclose it to Treefrog and explain how it will not affect your current job. You cannot claim Conflict of Interest work as a hobby, that is just regular work. (See Damaging the Marketplace). Get approval from Treefrog in writing (i.e. an email, clearly stating what it is you do), so memory doesn’t fade and cost you your job.

Community Support Work (Conflict of Interest) - Simply put, one of the bottom lines of Treefrog’s existence is helping the community. If your church needs a website and wants you to do it for them, approach Treefrog about it. Perhaps we can do it inexpensively, or you could do it on the side for pay with limited team support, and Treefrog can broadcast our involvement, thus, bringing the additional value to Treefrog. There is always a way.

Community Support Work (Not Conflict of Interest) - Treefrog believes that wanting to volunteer at a local theatre or local Soup Kitchen is fantastic! Although the volunteering will affect Treefrog through your lowered net energy, it will also help balance your brain, bringing you satisfaction as an individual, because helping the world makes our lives meaningful. If the possibility exists that it might affect your work, say through a day off or reduced energy, disclose it and allow Treefrog to own it with you. In other words, we will support you in your volunteerism and broadcast your involvement, thus, bringing additional value to Treefrog in return.

Direct Conflict of Interest Work - This will result in the end of your engagement with Treefrog. We are obligated to take legal action against you to prevent liability for ourselves in the future.

Family Conflict of Interest Work - You believe that your potential client “cannot afford Treefrog’s pricing”. This could be because the potential client is just getting started or any of the reasons listed above. You are obligated to disclose and discuss these reasons with your Pod Leader or the CEO. We will look at the points above and discuss a go-forward plan.

Your Own Project on the Side - This needs to be covered under a different discussion, namely, Intellectual Property. Bottom line, disclose, disclose, disclose. This will allow you to determine and have a better understanding as to whether it is an appropriate project to work on or not.

Disclose to Treefrog what work you are doing, and save yourself a world of pain in the future.

How To Handle Getting Asked for Direct Competitive Work

Many people at Treefrog have been asked by clients to do work under the table for them. A few past Frogs have tried and are no longer with us. If a client asks you to do this, immediately disclose this to the CEO and refuse the work. Should you take the work, you are relinquishing your right to employment with Treefrog.

Note that in almost every case, we put a note on the client’s file, and cease doing future work with the client. I mean seriously, they are assholes. Why would we help them be successful?

How to Handle Work your Aren’t Sure About

Approach the CEO and disclose all of the facets of the potential work. Consider if this helps your career or if it limits your career. Consider if it helps your team or compromises your team.

Easy rule? If you aren’t sure, you probably can be sure it’s not OK.

Make sure there is a paper trail (read: send an email detailing this). It is not the CEO’s job to remember the details of a conversation from many years ago - memory is slippy, stuff changes on the fly and people remember different things about the same conversation.

How to Handle it if you are Working Now Because You Forgot This Section Of Our Employee Manual

Disclose it immediately. Let us discuss it.

If you disclose it immediately, we can discuss options for moving forward. If you do not disclose it, each and every time, it is grounds for termination.