“It’s illegal!” – M’sian Intern Gets Scolded by Supervisor Who Finds out He Works Part-Time on Weekends

An internship is the kickstart point for you to get exposed to the “real” outside world. It’s best to give your entire focus on the internship to gain as much experience as you can.

If you have the strength and time (and most importantly, good time management), then by all means go get yourself another part-time job if you need to. BUT bear in mind, not all employers will be okay with an intern having another job.

In a Xiao Hong Shu (RED) post by @Ricebowl Kacau Company, a Malaysian intern was called out by his supervisor at work who found out he had his attention divided with a part-time job.

For illustration purposes only

“Do you know that it’s illegal to have a part-time job when you have a full-time job?”

The intern, who works part-time as a promoter admitted that he had no idea about the law, and told his supervisor that most of his friends are getting a side income too.

His supervisor, however, was not convinced, and said,

“You’re considered a full-time employee because we’re giving you EPF and other benefits.”

For illustration purposes only

The conversation started when the intern couldn’t manage to finish his report on a Friday, and told his supervisor that he would submit the report to her by Saturday night after he came back from his part-time job on Saturday morning, which was also on his day off.

Fortunately, he managed to submit his work by the promised timeline but his concern remains – will his internship report look bad?

For illustration purposes only

“I still don’t get it. Is it illegal? They’re not paying much for an intern, so is it wrong for me to get extra pay elsewhere?”

“Keep it to yourself”

Social media users also took the time to tell him what they really had on mind about being too transparent.

“All I can say is, don’t let your employers know that you’re working part-time elsewhere.”

“Some companies will state in the employment contract that you’re not allowed to have another employment income. Part-time is also another employment.”

“It looks like your part-time has interfered with your ‘full-time’ job, and this is irresponsible. You don’t have to be that transparent at work, you could’ve just said you have something else to do in the day and you could only make it at night.”

Dear Malaysian employers, what do you think of your intern doing a side job?

Also read: “1 week CNY leave for family & BF” – Viral E-mail from Intern is Fake & Hacked, Says University