I've never worked for an employer, from pizza delivery, to corporate intern, to multiple startup, to FAANG, that didn't have this VERY CLEARLY worded in the employment agreement, right up top:

1. Any work you do during company time/resources/equipment, is company property.

2. Anything public related to work, or that could be considered as competing or providing the service in the same space as work, needs to be vetted by the company.

Along with public communication, etc.

In my experience, this isn't some "what happens when MBA's run company" or "they run out of ideas", it's literally every company I've ever worked for.

Was google previously an exception here, or are people just unfamiliar with the details of the 20% policy? Surely they didn't allow you to work on, for example, something for a competitor? There had to be some limitations, rather than a pure free for all, as seems to be suggested in the comments.

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dekhn 8 hours ago | parent [-]

The policy was always crystal clear, but at the same time, tons of people found it confusing. "I wrote this at home on my personal computer in my free time? Why does google own it? how can that be legal" came up a lot. People would get into huge fights with OSPO over this.

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userbinator 34 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Keeping a very strict "firewall" between your personal and corporate life is the best way to avoid such situations, but then again, these are Google employees we're talking about...

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socalgal2 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Writing at home is irrelevant if what you're doing is related to the company's business. You can't be working for Google and making a browser, a document editor, a spreadsheet, a mapping site, etc... It doesn't matter if you do it on your own time. Yea, you can grow coffee and sell it at retail stores on your own time. No you can't complete directly with your employer. If it's some gray area then you either get permission first or wait for the courts if you get sued.

This isn't unique to Google. It's basic common law. No contract needs to be signed. Competing with your employer is immoral. If you want to compete then quit and be a competitor. If you're taking their money as an employee then you have a "duty of loyalty"

	▲	2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		[deleted]

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fg137 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> "I wrote this at home on my personal computer in my free time? Why does google own it? how can that be legal"

Interesting. Did they read their contract before signing it?

	▲	dekhn 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		yes, many engineers (especially at google) are armchair lawyers and have all sorts of opinions about contracts and licenses.