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This is all in the UK. I am a fairly junior software developer, and have been working for the medium-sized department of a large company for a little over 3 years now.

I would like to set-up a part-time business, but would only dedicate part of my time to this - it would be something of a hobby or collaborative effort.

My contract states:

You are expected to devote your employment and energy and time exclusively to the best interests of the Company. Permission to hold any outside employment or business interests, including carrying on business with the Company’s suppliers, or dealers, must be secured from the Company in writing. Failure to secure advance permission may result in summary dismissal.

However I'm concerned asking to do this would make me seem 'undedicated', demoralised or distracted. How can I ask permission to my line manager (whom I don't have a great deal of contact with except for large issues such as this) without coming off unprofessional or against the spirit of my contract?

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    Is this "contract" actually a legally binding contract? Is that clause legally binding? Before asking your employer anything, ask an attorney what the legal implications are. Also, stop asking the internet questions that you should be asking an attorney. Well intentioned as we may be, we're not your attorney and I'd hate for you to put yourself in legal jeopardy because of an answer you received on a site such as this. This is very obviously a legal question, because you quoted your "contract" in the question and are soliciting what amounts to be legal advice.
    – joeqwerty
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 20:37
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    "energy and time exclusively to the best interests of the company" -- ha... Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 21:03
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    It seems like your company requires you to get their permission for your part-time business even if your part-time business is not related to or does not conflict with the company's interests and even if you work on this side business outside the company's required work hours. Is that true ? Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 21:28
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    Important question, would the part time business be related to your main employment? E.g. is it in the software space, or the industry you currently are employed in. If the answers to this are yes, they will probably say no.
    – Crazy Dino
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 22:50
  • This kind of request is best asked the next time you move to a new employer and they present you with a similar contract. That's when you have the most leverage. You can ask now, but don't be surprised if they say 'no'. Commented Aug 29, 2021 at 5:37

2 Answers 2

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It's plausible that you can not

You have to assume that simply asking - no matter how carefully you do it - might be held against you. The written policy seems to quite clearly express intent and opinion (perhaps even 'core values') that the company does not want you to do what you want to do, so your observation is right - it's quite possible that some managers will treat your desire for a side gig as a sign you're not sufficiently devoted to the work. You may get permission and you may also get denied, no matter how you explain, depending on various factors largely our of your control - in a large company, possibly even out of your direct manager's control.

If you have good informal relations with some people in management, you might be able to "sniff the air" about actual internal policy regarding such issues - perhaps the demand is just a formality and such permission has been granted to multiple people already, perhaps it's just a formality in the other direction and no exceptions are ever granted. You should know your company culture better than anyone on StackExchange. But if you don't, well, then you just have to judge how important that gig is to you and how important your particular job is - perhaps it's not that hard to find a different company if this one is not compatible with your goals.

In essence "how can I ask" is the wrong question here, because the key factors are your company, and not the words you'll use. There's no "proper asking" that will remove the risks you're worried about. You have to decide if you'll ask, and if yes, just do so.

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    The correct questions are "should I ask?", and "how can I tell if I should?"
    – user72058
    Commented Aug 28, 2021 at 22:34
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You have two options.

  1. Just do it and don’t ask permission. The chance they find out is low and they’d have to be already angry to dismiss you over it (unless it competes or interferes with them in some way in which case you should not be doing it because of the legal exposure).
  2. Ask permission, assuring them it’s a minimum time side thing, just for fun, evenings and weekends only, this job will always come first (that’s what they want to hear). This avoids the “summary dismissal clause” but always runs the risk of some loss of status, there is no avoiding that. Also, doing something is more work than doing nothing for a bureaucracy. If they say “no” you can fall back to #1 but your chance of actual dismissal if found out goes up by at least 50% because rhen it’s not just a hobby it’s insubordination.

In either case, you then NEVER MENTION THAT SIDE GIG AGAIN AT WORK FOR ANY REASON. There is no up side and the down sides in both the #1 and #2 cases are obvious.

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    Or register the business under someone elses name is fairly widespread strategy
    – Kilisi
    Commented Aug 29, 2021 at 0:33
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    @Kilisi sounds like an implementation detail of option #1. Commented Aug 29, 2021 at 9:23

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