Ghana’s labour laws do not explicitly regulate side hustles, leaving the issue largely to individual employment contracts, a law lecturer at the GIMPA Law School has said.
Bernard Owiredu explained on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday (1 May) that the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) does not impose a universal rule on whether employees can engage in secondary jobs.
Instead, he said, employment relationships in Ghana are fundamentally contractual.
“There isn’t a general prohibition… it depends on the employment contract — the terms and conditions you sign up to,” he noted.
According to him, appointment letters, HR manuals, and institutional policies determine whether side jobs are allowed, restricted, or prohibited outright.
Owiredu stressed that employees are legally bound by the principle of sanctity of contract, meaning they must adhere to conditions they voluntarily accept.
“If your contract says no side work, you have signed up to it,” he said, adding that concerns about unfair clauses should be raised before accepting employment.
No need for new law
Despite the growing popularity of side hustles, the legal expert argued against amending Ghana’s labour laws to specifically regulate them.
“You cannot legislate for all forms of side hustle,” he said, citing the diversity of informal and digital income streams.
He instead recommended that employers and employees negotiate clear terms at the start of employment.
Side hustles can be formal employment
Owiredu also challenged the common perception that side hustles fall outside formal labour protections.
He noted that many secondary jobs are legitimate employment arrangements with contracts.
“Some side hustles are real jobs,” he said, citing examples of professionals holding multiple formal roles simultaneously.
He concluded that attempts to rigidly define side hustles in law could overlook this complexity and create unnecessary regulatory gaps.
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