Hi there.
I have a question about policies for employees engaging in theatrical work
with other organizations or for their own benefit.  The venue I work in
operates mostly as a non-union Roadhouse with a salaried tech/admin staff
for each department (lighting, audio, marketing, development, etc). We also
do some in-house productions and will be doing much more once our search for
a production facility is finalized. Lately we've been running into the
issue of what an employee is allowed to engage in on their own time. We are
looking for policy about potential conflicts of interest so that we can
integrate it into our standard practices. The issue that comes up most
often is, our Lighting Head likes to build sets in his spare time (and has
built the few shows we've produced). Up until now he's been contracted
outside of the venue, but now there is a company that has rented our venue
interested in having him be the Head Carp on their show. Should he be
allowed to take that contract.
Also now, for the first time, someone on our Admin staff (the Marketing
Co-Ordinator) has asked to rent the theatre to direct his own production. Is
that a conflict of interest? Is there some kind of policy for such
situations?


Any advice would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Val