Since my salary is already low at my new job, I do freelance work on the weekends. Not many people at the office knew about this, but somehow it got out. Now, a friend said in passing, âYouâre already earning from outside, what does it matter if your salary is low?â Will people not take me seriously at this workplace anymore? What should I do, should I hide it or should I talk about it openly?
I think it would make more sense to keep this a secret rather than explaining it. People at work can generally be jealous of things like this. If you donât complain about your salary while freelancing, it wonât attract anyoneâs attention 
Instead of saying it directly, if they ask, you can simply say âadditional incomeâ and move on. You donât need to go into details. Otherwise, people will start prying into your private life, leading to unnecessary discussions.
But I think youâve also revealed a bit too much here. How did it get heard when no one knew? I think youâve told the wrong people or it somehow leaked to the workplace. If you give people material against yourself, they wonât take you seriously, of course.
Generally, earning additional income professionally doesnât create an issue in labor law, but if your employment contract has a clause like âyou cannot work at another job,â this could be a problem. I suggest not speaking openly without checking your contract first.
Actually, I didnât explain this myself directly; it was overheard while calculating the money coming from a job I did. There are many people at the workplace with low salaries who struggle to make ends meet, maybe thatâs where this sensitivity arose 
You are now juggling two jobs here and earning what youâre entitled to. But no one needs to know how much youâre making so that one of them doesnât complain about being âunderpaid.â The issue isnât your side job, itâs others overstepping their boundaries.