Alright, so here's the deal...

We all know the company's watching the computers, right? But a lot of us are juggling other stuff on the side.

What's the worst that could happen here? Could they actually fire me for just personal use? I'm not talking about anything shady like leaking data, just taking some calls and knocking out a few freelance gigs while still getting the main job done.

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Posting as :
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NEVER complete outside work on your employer’s hardware!!

Not only might you get caught and fired (check your employee handbook for specific rules) but you may also lose your copyright. Oftentimes, employment contracts state that all work created with company resources remains the property of the company.

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OP - go buy a personal laptop.

likefunny

Yo two laptops bruh, cmon

likefunny

That's even worse--working on other stuff on their computer AND in their office??? Are you mad?

likesmartfunny

No one is checking. I do personal stuff on the company computer. Keep the files out of sight and no problems. Did a volunteer thing and used skype on the computer.

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Doing volunteer work, personal business, family stuff isn’t the issue. OP is using agency computer and software to create work for a side client. That’s where the issue can come in - it isn’t your Adobe license, your fonts, your laptop. It rarely happens, but you can be sued. Worst is you can lose your job.

When you’re on the clock for your agency, work for your agency. On your own time, you can side hustle all you want, but have your own personal laptop for those things and get your own subscription to Adobe creative cloud.

I’ve side hustled for 20 years and never had a problem. But I know how to keep them separate and legal.

likesmart

Oddly enough my last CCO encouraged it. He believed it kept our passion and interest in the craft/industry alive. He would even give you feedback if you asked. Obviously it could absolutely not interfere with deadlines or attention to your actual work or be freelance gigs from a shop we competed with, but they could not have cared less about what personal creative work we did with our company devices.

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Obviously.

I feel like They only check when they are digging for stuff.

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get your own computer

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I’ve been doing that with my current agency laptop and did it in my previous. Nothing happened to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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This is about as smart as saying “I never wear a seatbelt and nothing’s ever happened”.

Nothing happens until it does.

likesmart

No one is watching (unless you gave them a reason to. )

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None of the agencies I’ve worked for watched my computers.

funny

You should definitely do it. 👀

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What if you do it after hours or on the weekend? Is that still an issue?

That’s fair but when you make as little as I do it’s hard to buy a 4k laptop

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