2 ms·
> I automated part of someone else's job in my free time – how to proceed? Fist, a misconception, there is no such thing as "free" time (opportunity cost: what
by jll29 4y ago
> I automated part of someone else's job in my free time – how to proceed?
Fist, a misconception, there is no such thing as "free" time (opportunity cost: whatever you do means you're not doing something else in that same time that might benefit you more).
You likely used an hour in which you were not expected to work as work time (as others pointed out, check your employment contract's IP clause and the IP laws of your country).
Write a memo that _proposes_ what you have already built and share it with your manager. If you receive positive feedback, ask would it be valuable if you went ahead and tried your luck, given that you had the idea (and stress that it won't impact your day job!). If you get permission, show the resulting demo, but only after a substantial piece of work of your main job has been completed. Don't give the impression you dropped everything just because you had an idea. Add the line to your CV/resume that you "Proactively conceived and implemented a system that automated a mechanical human process in another department on top of daily duties.", and it may or may not help you get a little bonus and/or promotion at the end of the year - ensure there are other good things you have done in the same year, in particular close to your daily duties).
- Test0129 4y ago> (as others pointed out, check your employment contract's IP clause and the IP laws of your country). This is the most critical part. Using the US for example, this software whether OP reveals or not belongs to the company (even in California). The reason is it uses the same data, the same processes, and likely even the same language. Therefore, it is "in the line company business" and most judges would rule in favor of the company despite it possibly being written on OPs own hardware. Best advice is to just delete it, or come up with a thoughtful way of bringing it up as this comment suggests. As it stands now it's likely that OP is in hot water legally otherwise. good middle ground is to take what you've written and draft it into a proposal, never mention the code you've written, and get paid to rewrite it better. Worst case you tell them, and then the company gets their IP lawyers involved and things get dramatically worse.
- xboxnolifes 4y ago> Fist, a misconception, there is no such thing as "free" time (opportunity cost: whatever you do means you're not doing something else in that same time that might benefit you more). "Free" doesn't only refer to monetarily free. What OP did was in their free time, as in, free to do whatever they want with. i.e. Not work time. “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer”, and all that.