Is it okay to take brand deals that conflict with my employer?

Description:

A brand approached me for sponsored content but their product competes with my employer’s offerings and my audience overlaps with our customers. What legal, ethical, and career considerations should I check (employment contract, NDAs, noncompete clauses, disclosure obligations), and how should I approach asking for permission or negotiating safe terms to avoid jeopardizing my job?

2 Answers

Sort by:

Joshua Carr 15 Aug 2025

Copy answer link Report answer
I ran into this once and learned to check more than just the contract. Look for your employer’s social media and moonlighting rules, who owns content you create, and whether using employer data or customers would violate privacy. If you have any decision authority over vendor choices you must recuse yourself. When asking permission, be clear, offer concrete safeguards like no targeting of current customers, no direct comparisons, and anonymized examples. Get any approval in writing and suggest small edits to the sponsored post that make it less competitive. If legal says no, accept it gracefully. Getting a written exception is worth more than the short money.
14
G. L. 16 Aug 2025

Copy answer link Report answer
Think about the long-term reputation risk too, not just legal stuff,even if you get approval now, it might look bad later or hurt trust with your employer
7