eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎01-28-2024

I'm not sure if this is news or not... supposedly there's been lots of articles about people having multiple jobs making lots of money (and not working very hard at any of them from what I read).

At my work we have a "code of conduct" to fill out, it's pretty standard, how to deal with things like gifts, keeping information confidential, and making sure your family goes through the proper channels to do things if they are customers of ours.

New this year, they have said we have to disclose any:

1. Job working for another business

2. Owning your own business

3. Ad hoc online business (like eBay selling).

They did previously ask about working for somewhere else... but in 2008 when I was hired, I was told if it's not for one of their customers or in the same industry, they don't care. At some point a few years ago (like during COVID) they started to care and people who work as hairdressers on Saturdays had to disclose it. My supervisor knew of the online selling but told me I had to disclose it, that was 2 years ago. (So I did, I work for a brick and mortar store, and the items I sell are mostly for them).

What I'm interested in knowing about is why they think it's their business to get disclosure on sellers who have a part time eBay gig, or sell on FB MP, or the other e, or the River, or any of those, why does it matter? We're not allowed to do "other business" on our work computers or during work time, so if we're not doing that, why does it matter?

The way it was written it sounds as if even if you only make $25-50 a week from time to time, you still have to disclose you're doing it. They also expect you to disclose it later if you aren't doing it today, but start doing it before the next disclosure form comes out.

I'm only asking because if our company does it, surely many others are too. Would like some input from other people on the subject, since I'm sure it's come up in many online articles in the past couple of years, but this seems to be a new requirement since the COVID situation.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎01-28-2024

@msmaggie060 wrote:
I wonder if it could also have to do with if you are injured or become ill at some point in your life. May have to do with the sickness and disability insurance plan that your company has.

I thought of that. Back when I started at my company, going on disability is a rare thing... but now I work with an entire office of people who've made disability claims of some sort (and mental health is becoming the new disability claim for everyone). I've made two short claims, one for a broken foot, and another for a broken elbow. In both cases I couldn't drive myself to work, and this was before COVID when I couldn't work at home. Nowadays they would have me work at home if I'm able to sit at a desk in my house. I can get by typing with one hand to do a few of the jobs (but that was only of help once I could drive back to work, I had to be able to hold the steering wheel with my injured arm before I was allowed to drive, and where I live there is no public transit to work).

But that's in 16 years, for a grand total of 11 days missed work on a disability claim.

If someone has a side gig and makes a disability claim, the rules of the insurance provider is that you cannot "work for wage or profit" while being on the disability. They pay out our full salary for the first 10 weeks, and then it goes down to 70% indefinitely (as long as the claim is approved). So this could possibly by why they want to know about alternate income sources, to make sure that's not what you're doing while the claim is being paid out.

I've decided I'm going to go to part time hours as my health declines to avoid "rules" of what I can and can't do in my time off. If I'm part time, and I'm earning the money they pay me, I don't see what I'm doing on my own time as any of their business. If I get up and feel OK and want to do listings, I should be able to do that, but other days I'll be in bed all day. (For the record this is not a mental health issue, I actually have a chronic condition, but I have not missed very much work as a result and have not made a disability claim... If I have to make a disability claim, I won't be capable of any work anywhere).

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎01-28-2024

@powell-memorabilia wrote:
I work for a very large corporation, and we are only required to disclose business interests or personal relationships that would be a conflict of interest, or a potential conflict of interest.

I can absolutely see why a brick and mortar retail store would want to know who is selling on eBay. Employee theft is a big thing, and if things come up missing, they should look on eBay to see if anyone is selling them.

The Brick and Mortar store is the other job that my corporation (that I work for) wants to know about. I sell on eBay for the brick and mortar store, he knows I have some of my own items, he also can log into my eBay account and look at what's going on if necessary (it's a business account registered to my business name, I work for the B&M store on contract).

I have a full time job working in the legal department of a corporation, and they're the ones who want to know about eBay selling, and FB selling, and fruit stand selling, and all that.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎01-28-2024

@yuzuha wrote:
@jettshutt wrote:
I've been selling online since 2008 and my first two years of doing eBay/Amazon, I worked for the Dept of Defense (retired 25 yrs). I had to disclose that I was selling online & that I wouldn't use any Gov time or computers to do so while on the DOD job. This was 2008-2010.
Yeah, that's standard and always has been. My father works as a contractor for the government sometimes and he's not allowed to do any sort of other work while on the clock for the government.

We're not either (or to use our work computer at home to do our personal stuff). Reading the news is the limit of personal stuff done on my work computer (and that's allowed because we need to read the news sometimes to stay informed).

Ironically at the B&M store, since I work on commission, I can literally do whatever I want in the store, as long as it doesn't disrupt the others from doing their work. I have to set a good example, so I do, by not taking lots of breaks and staying on whatever task I'm doing for the day. It's the legal dept corporation job that wants to know all my business about other income sources.

And for the record, I have 45 vacation days a year, so I do have time to go into the B&M store for the day and work, without being on my company's time.

C.

reallynicestamps · ‎01-28-2024

Because they can as MOST jobs are Not Contracted and can 'end' at ANY moment.

Most US states are "at will " employment.

So any company can fire any employee at any time without notice or severance.

Canadian law is different.

I agree that it is likely that employers realized that "work from home" employees could in fact be holding down two jobs in the time they took to do one in the office.

Because travel, sick days, coffee gossip, chit chat, and those clandestine Candy Crunch or solitaire games because the efficient employee had completed all her tasks and covered for Fred-who-is-a-bit dim's work ,too.

simba6 · ‎01-28-2024

They often feel any other work will only tire you out and make you less effective at their job.

Wait until they find out about bronies........

rileydone · ‎01-28-2024

Bronies...I just had to Google it. Sorry that I did, now I can't get those images out of my head!

Learn something new here almost everyday.

1786davycrockett · ‎01-28-2024

@sin-n-dex

In 1987, I was hired by a very paranoid and stingy retailer, who required all his employees to declare their other employers (if any), in order to determine whether there might be conflicts of interest. Since his store carried a wide assortment of items, he wanted to ensure that his employees were not using the company discount (or out and out theft) to re-sell similar products through another employer.

So that pre-dates COVID by over 30 years.

When I began selling on eBay in 2011, I informed my (newer) employer (a national retail book seller chain) of my intentions, just to confirm that they were aware that I would be selling primarily old, out-of-print books and magazines. I even showed off my dinky little eBay site from that time, so that they could see for themselves that my items were definitely not competing with the newer books which my employer was selling -- and they were quite satisfied that I was not working against the company's interest.

So this doesn't seem to be a "new" intrusion into the personal lives of employees (brought upon us by COVID), but rather an extension of what has been going on for many years, in other fields of employment.

And, with more and more folks working from home since the first outbreak of COVID, I suspect that it will simply grow more intrusive.

And we thought that 1984 was thirty years behind us. . ..

sin-n-dex · ‎01-29-2024

@reallynicestamps wrote:

Canadian law is different.

I agree that it is likely that employers realized that "work from home" employees could in fact be holding down two jobs in the time they took to do one in the office.
Because travel, sick days, coffee gossip, chit chat, and those clandestine Candy Crunch or solitaire games because the efficient employee had completed all her tasks and covered for Fred-who-is-a-bit dim's work ,too.

I think there's severance in Canada, but I don't know what the rules for this are... it's never come up. Any time I've been let go I've been within probation period, but generally speaking I quit my jobs, not the other way around.

At our office we're busy and have enough to do there's no time to do a "second job", even from home. When we're done our tasks we help out other people on theirs, when we're too busy someone helps us. Basically the whole team is cross trained on all the things we do as a group.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎01-29-2024

@simba6 wrote:
They often feel any other work will only tire you out and make you less effective at their job.

I have lots to say against that statement. Such as "if you feel so strongly about me holding down two jobs then pay me a livable wage". I'm not poor by any means, and I don't work for minimum wage. But due to expenses I have I need to supplement my income with something. If I do a good job at that, then I can afford extras too.

I'm sure I could go out anywhere and find work, so I don't worry too much about what my employer is or isn't doing. I just found it interesting that this year they're asking about ad hoc online business income, which is kind of where eBay selling fits in for most of us.

C.

zip-a-deedoodah · ‎01-29-2024

The reason they ask, is to know whether you have a "conflict of interest". In general if a company hires you full time, it needs to know whether there is something that stands in the way of you doing your job. For example, say you are hired as a senior manager and the expectation is that you will be working 24/7 (and you are paid for that level of commitment), but you also have an eBay store that is earning you $1k/month and requires you to spend at least 20 hours/week. That's a conflict, and the company needs to know about it.

But, seems to me, for a company to ask all employees regardless of level, to disclose any eBay selling activity, is serious overkill, if not flagrantly stupid. I can't even think of a good reason why Etsy or Amazon needs to ask that question, perhaps by its senior VPs, but not from average employees.

farmalljr · ‎01-29-2024

Since it's a Canadian issue, I have no idea. In the US, those questions would most likely never be asked of most workers. I can see the point if you are issued company equipment or have access to company tools/supplies. Theft is a real issue.

In the US, most everyone would not disclose it, as it's none of anyone's business what we do outside of work. I would find it offensive if an employer asked and I would not answer their questions about it. When I am on the clock, they can worry about what I am doing while on the clock. My time is mine, I can do whatever I wish.

turtles-trading-post · ‎01-29-2024

I once worked for an evil company that officially barred additional employment. One of the guys I worked with was helping his son start a painting business, and would help him on the weekends. That caused a problem. The "official" reason in the company propaganda was that they felt you should use your time off to rest and be ready to work for them. Real reason was that they were pushing people way over 40 hours and into weekends. It wasn't uncommon to get that 3pm call on Friday to provide some difficult to produce nonsense report for first thing Monday morning! So bad that it's mentioned in employee reviews on Glassdoor!

Sending America's collectibles where they belong, one auction at a time!

simba6 · ‎01-29-2024

You think that's bad......Many now hold you to an NDA and you can't work in the same field for five year upon leaving them.

sin-n-dex · ‎01-29-2024

@zip-a-deedoodah wrote:
The reason they ask, is to know whether you have a "conflict of interest". In general if a company hires you full time, it needs to know whether there is something that stands in the way of you doing your job. For example, say you are hired as a senior manager and the expectation is that you will be working 24/7 (and you are paid for that level of commitment), but you also have an eBay store that is earning you $1k/month and requires you to spend at least 20 hours/week. That's a conflict, and the company needs to know about it.

But, seems to me, for a company to ask all employees regardless of level, to disclose any eBay selling activity, is serious overkill, if not flagrantly stupid. I can't even think of a good reason why Etsy or Amazon needs to ask that question, perhaps by its senior VPs, but not from average employees.

I'm right at the bottom of the corporate ladder (and have stayed put for 16 years with no interest in moving up) specifically to avoid making the 24/7 commitment the VPs have to make. I can't let a job run my life, it's just a job, it's a means to an end. It pays my bills. And if I'm lucky, I like doing the job too (I do like my current job which is why I've stayed for 16 years, but I've had jobs I liked a lot less in the past).

There are people who are pretty close to the bottom who were working weekends and starting at 6am and working until 10pm to get the job done. We're all salaried. We're audited. If we don't get our work done in the timeline there can be serious financial consequences for the company (like the opposing party winning their lawsuit by default). A big mistake can cost us a million dollars. I don't want to be responsible for such consequences for the company so I stay at the bottom, and I go home and do something else when my work day is over.

My boss is one of those weekends/early morning/late night people and had health problems from having this sort of schedule going on for a few years. She doesn't overwork her team, even though she overworks herself, and we all appreciate her. This is one reason for staying put, she lets me leave when my work day is over and doesn't tell me I'm responsible for "getting it all done through any means necessary, even if it means staying late".

I had a friend who had a job as a reporter. They wanted him in the office from 8 to 5pm to be at his computer doing his writing, and he was allowed to leave his desk during the day to cover daytime stuff. He was expected to cover evening and weekend events and show up with his camera to take pictures of someone in town being arrested. I wrote those hours on his timesheet and got a reprimand for working too much overtime. So he stopped doing the evening/weekend stuff and kept to the 40 hours he was told to work. Then he got a reprimand for missing covering things. He said "how do you expect me to work all those hours if I can't bill any overtime?" The boss said "I don't care what you do, no overtime and get your job done."

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎01-29-2024

@farmalljr wrote:
Since it's a Canadian issue, I have no idea. In the US, those questions would most likely never be asked of most workers. I can see the point if you are issued company equipment or have access to company tools/supplies. Theft is a real issue.

In the US, most everyone would not disclose it, as it's none of anyone's business what we do outside of work. I would find it offensive if an employer asked and I would not answer their questions about it. When I am on the clock, they can worry about what I am doing while on the clock. My time is mine, I can do whatever I wish.

I got the actual form today, and it's not as bad as I thought it was when I originally made the post... the code of conduct I did talked about it and made it sound like a very intrusive questionnaire was coming, but in the end it was basically "what are you doing" (under their criteria of "working for someone else") and "what steps are you taking to ensure it doesn't conflict with your work duties here".

In my questionnaire I mentioned the brick and mortar store, and the "no conflict" answer was to disclose my work hours and confirm I had my own hardware and software needed to do my other job, so I would not be using company equipment to earn this extra income.

As for how most people won't disclose this stuff... I didn't disclose every detail, just the general gist of working in the evenings on my eBay stuff (for which I'm employed by the brick and mortar store, I referred to what I did was "selling items on online venues" without specifying the venue). I'll post on this thread again if it comes back that my answers weren't good enough, but I think it should be fine.

C.