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Question

My previous employer wants me to fix a bug in the code I wrote while I was working for them. Should I provide assistance to themÃ¢Â€Â”on contract (paid) or for freeÃ¢Â€Â”despite the fact I am no longer working for them?

Background:
Last summer I worked as an intern for a large manufacturing company. The duration of my contract was fixed to 3 months. I was paid an hourly rate for my work. My job responsibilities entailed IT support and software development. The software project that I worked on was a fairly simple server application. I worked on the project exclusively. Initially the project seemed to be a success, the software was working as intended. Before my contract concluded and I left the company, I made sure to leave extensive documentation on how to use the program and how to edit the source code should they need to.

I did not sign a contract specifically pertaining to this software project and any post deployment assistance it may require.

Since then I have started working for a different company as a full-time software developer in a different country.

Problem:
I have recently been contacted by my previous employer (this is over a year after my contract ended with them), saying that there is a small bug with the software that I previously wrote, and that they need my help to fix said problem. As previously mentioned I now work full-time in a different country. This means that going back there in person is out of the question. Though I do believe it will be possible to fix the bug remotely. If I were to help fix this bug it would require me to devote my free time (evenings/weekends) to assist them.

It is in my best interest to fix this bug so that I can still use the previous employer as a reference for future employment. I do not want them to be on bad terms with me.

Question:
Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing them in my spare time? Or should I provide the assistance for free since it is my moral responsibility, even though I am not contractually obligated to?

Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. — 7 hours ago
100.000000000000000000000000% of computer code ever written ....... has bugs. Of course there are bugs in the code of the previous place you worked. — 4 hours ago
Don't have anything to add beyond the answers, but I'm pretty sure that when they reached out, it was with the expectation that you'd ask for compensation. You know the code, so you don't have to review large portions of it to figure out what's going on and what potential impacts are. They are asking you because they save money by you not having to do the background research and having first-hand knowledge of the code and what it is supposed to do. They expect to pay, they think there will be the least amount of billable hours involved by hiring you to do it. — 3 hours ago
what does you contract say about outside jobs and is you original employer a competitor — 2 hours ago
I wish I could do this every time I encounter a bug written by a former employee. — 2 hours ago

score 164 · Answer 1 · 2018-10-18 13:48:05Z

Fixing the bug is not your responsibility.

should I provide the assistance for free since it is my morale responsibility

No. It is not your moral or legal responsibility to provide free help. You are not their employee anymore.

I made sure to leave extensive documentation on how to use the program and how to edit the source code should they need to.

Good! You've already done what you need to do to help out. They are aware of the bug and have the resources to fix it themselves. They are expected to fix it, not you.

There are also several strong reasons why you should not do the work for free:

You're a professional now. Performing unpaid work does not benefit you.

You are currently employed by a new company. Performing after-hours work for your old company may be considered a conflict of interest or breach of contract.

It's been at least a year since you left the old company, and their systems may have changed. You have no idea how long this fix will take to complete.

How should you respond to their request?

Option A is to politely refuse, and direct them to the documentation that you left behind.

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing them in my spare time?

Option B is to discuss this with your current employer. Maybe you can negotiate a temporary contract to help out the old company, but you must get your current employer's permission first. Also be sure to ask how much time they (the old company) expect from you.

Are you directly argumenting against negotiating some price for fixing that bug as a freelancer/contractor? — 15 hours ago
Caution is advised. Before doing any further work for a previous employer, make sure that doing so does not get you into trouble with your current employer! — 15 hours ago
Caution yes - but that doesn't mean don't do it; I would send them my daily rates and tell them that this is the rate that I would charge, but confirmation needs to be made on if I can do it.... and establish if the cost will be prohibitive to them — 14 hours ago
Why (and where) should working for free be illegal? There is obviously a lot of voluntary work going on in the world, so could you be a bit more specific? — 10 hours ago
@AndreiROM - clauses stating that you have to at least disclose other business relationships is a pretty common thing in the USA. Perhaps the best compromise is to inform them that OP will be doing this (assuming there is no contractual language requiring permission), on their own time, outside of work, and that they are being informed as a courtesy. But, yeah, Carcosa is right that you don't do this for free. I'm fairly confident that the previous employer is probably contacting with the expectation of paying OP, figuring OP could fix it most expeditiously vs other options — 3 hours ago

Dan 5,30521222 · Answer 2 · 2018-10-17 19:46:07Z

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing them in my spare time?

Yes if you feel deeply with it. You are writing code so they can make a profit. As an aside, it's entirely possible your current company will not allow you to work. Check with your manager if you are allowed to do this before asking about the contract. Most companies I've seen have clauses/rules regarding working for a similar company while employed there.

Or should I provide the assistance for free since it is my morale responsibility, even though I am not contractually obligated to?

No, I don't think you have a moral responsibility for fixing your error. If you wrote a software that solved world hunger, then yes, maybe in such a case. However, given that you were making money, and they were making money off you, then there is no moral obligation or what not.

I agree, it is the company that has the responsibility especially when decide to hire a 3 month intern instead of creating a real job.. — 11 hours ago
It is 120% the company's responsibility to fix this bug. While you do have a moral obligation to write the best software you can while working for a company, that obligation ends as soon as you're no longer working for them. And code absolutely always has bugs in it. The fact that there were bugs in the software you produced for your old employer does not mean that you failed them while you were working for them. It means that you're a human being who did your best, which is all that can be asked of you. — 8 hours ago

Tom 1,976414 · Answer 3 · 2018-10-18 08:35:21Z

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge
them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing
them in my spare time? Or should I provide the assistance for free
since it is my morale responsibility, even though I am not
contractually obligated to?

There are no moral obligations in business.

You were paid by the hour, not by the result. And from what you described the company is seeking your assistance from a neutral position, they are not angry or threatening you.

Most likely, they already did a quick guestimate and believe that asking you to fix the bug will be faster, cheaper and possibly less likely to introduce other bugs than hiring someone new who is unfamiliar with the code.

Their request is an absolutely rational one. The person who wrote the code is usually the best person to fix a bug. Reaching out to you with a request for help is an obvious solution. Most likely, they will not be surprised by you asking for payment, and most likely they would not be losing sleep if you refused.

So yes, if you wish to, you can offer them to fix the bug at an hourly rate that you find justified. You should detail everything you mentioned above - that you are full-time employed, would complete this work in your spare time (important for an estimate of deadlines!) and that you can only do the work remotely.

And yes, you should ask for compensation for your time. Why would you do this for free? Why would you assume they expect you do it for free? Would they do something for free for you?

And that is all there is to it. I would abstain from the philosophical musings of some other answers. Why they found the bug now, whether or not they read your documentation, if they already tried fixing the bug with in-house people - all of that is of no consequence to your question.

Don't overthink simple things.

When you reply, you should also say that you will have to ask your employer for permission. Assuming this is not a competitor, your employer will quite likely agree - I've had cases where an employer agreed "if you bring cake for everyone on Monday" :-) — 10 hours ago
@gnasher729 Not sure why you should have to feed people for the privilege — 10 hours ago
@LightnessRacesinOrbit Puts me in mind of the concept of Peppercorn Payments. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppercorn_(legal) The company being obligated to require a transaction to have something on both sides of the equation so that it doesn't legally count as them doing you a favour. I'm probably wildly wrong though. — 10 hours ago
@Ruadhan2300 Hmm perhaps but it's kind of weird to "pay current employer to do outside work" in the first place. Either your contract permits it or it doesn't. — 10 hours ago

score 12 · Answer 4 · 2018-10-17 20:25:07Z

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge
them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing
them in my spare time? Or should I provide the assistance for free
since it is my morale responsibility, even though I am not
contractually obligated to?

That depends on how you view your moral responsibility, how much you value your relationship with them, how long you think the bug fix will take, and how much you value this time.

You could just indicate you are too busy and thereby refuse to help fix the bug.

You could offer to take a quick look at the issue, then give them an estimate of how much time and at what rate it would take to fix the problem.

Or you could just agree to jump in and help fix it.

If it were me, and I didn't think it would take up too much of my spare time, I'd just do the latter.

In fact I have helped out previous employers. Many times.

I once left a Systems Administrator position. My replacement ended up deleting critical system files on a main drive and inadvertently deleting their only backup in the process. Although I had nothing to do with the cause, I worked with my replacement overnight all night long to rebuilt the operating system drive and create a viable backup, then went in to my regular work in the morning. I got a nice "Thank you" letter in return. To me, it was just the right thing to do.

An unpaid all-nighter is much, much more than I'd expect from anyone. (I actually think the extremity of the story hurts your answer.) But +1 for the suggestion to quote them an estimate or fix it if it's small. — 20 hours ago
Joe you are far too nice for your own good. I used to be like that, but now I realise that "free" niceness (or too much niceness) does not always have a positive impact on earth, and sometimes it has a negative effect. — 18 hours ago
@goamn - we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I believe being nice is its own reward. And I believe that people like to be nice to nice people. It's always worked out for me. — 12 hours ago
Niceness is fine, as long as it's not taken for granted or exploited. — 10 hours ago
@Ruadhan2300 - we each get to decide if we feel exploited or not — 9 hours ago

score 6 · Answer 5 · 2018-10-18 07:22:42Z

There are good and bad points in all the answers here, so I'm collecting the best parts into a single answer.

Fixing the bug is not your responsibility, but that does not mean that you should refuse.
You should feel free to work on this if you want to, after considering the following conditions.

You should check with your current company to ensure that you are allowed to do outside work. It is normal for developers to do outside work, but it is also fairly normal for companies to place restrictions on it.

You should not do unpaid work, but you don't need to request an exhorbitant fee, just one that fairly compensates you for your work. Generally contract work pays a higher rate than regular employment, perhaps as much as twice.

You should have a contract specifying the work to be done, either a rate of pay or a total contract price, and a timeline for the work, as negotiated between you and the company. If you choose to use a fixed price contract, make sure that the compensation is high enough to compensate you for the risk that it may take far more hours than you expect to complete the work. Make sure that you don't commit to a timeline that demands you to work more hours in a day or week that you want to.

There's no reason this needs to be a one-time thing. You can continue to maintain your old code on an as-needed basis, if you want to. However, each instance should be a separate contract, with no obligation for you to take any additional contracts in the future.

Ertai87 3,539213 · Answer 6 · 2018-10-17 20:51:14Z

IANAL.

Assuming that helping the previous company does not constitute a breach of contract or conflict of interest under your current contract (check this first!):

1) You should not do the work for free. Presumably this company still creates software. Presumably they have developers on staff. Presumably those developers are more experienced than some bottom-tier intern who worked there for 3 months (not to say you are bottom-tier now, but yourself at that time was probably less experienced than their full-time staff today). They can pay their employees to do it, or you can do it for them. What they're hoping to do is for you to do the work for less than they would have to pay their employees to do it. What this means presumably is:

Firstly, their people have not maintained your code in a year. They haven't read your documentation, made updates, adjustments, etc. That's their problem, not yours. "Your" code is actually "their" code, and they don't know their own code base, so the cost of them having to learn their own codebase is factored into their calculation.

Secondly and conversely, you know the code. Therefore, you should be able to take less time to fix the bug (or so they believe). Therefore, they can pay you less to fix it (because time = money and less time = less money, or so they believe), or nothing at all if they appeal to your sense of responsibility.

So, the thing you should do is to quote them an exorbitant fee to fix the code. The calculation you should go by is, if you expect it will take you X hours to fix it and you estimate it will take them Y hours to learn it, and they pay $Z/hr to their employees (you should have a rough idea of Z if you worked there as an intern, or at least if you know the market in the area), you should ask for (X + Y) * Z to fix the bug (or ((X + Y) * Z) / X hourly). That is the cost that you estimate they will pay their own employees to fix the bug, and you shouldn't short-change yourself.

2) You should make it clear to them that this work will be done on your schedule, not on theirs, because you have a full-time job elsewhere and you will be doing this work for them after-hours. This is to set expectations. They should understand that after a full day of working 9-5, you are not interested in working a 5-1 job, and that you will only be working on it for a couple hours per day. They need to understand this, because otherwise it will be trouble for you.

3) You should make it clear to them that this is a one-time-deal only, and after this is done, they shouldn't count on you to maintain this code for them forever. You provided documentation (good job!) on the code you wrote, and that's really where your responsibility should end, but you are providing this service out of the goodness of your heart, and they shouldn't push their luck. Once again, setting expectations.

4) And this is the most important part so it's in bold: Get this in writing. Draw up and sign a contract. Don't just make it willy nilly he-said-she-said, because that's how you get screwed out of your work. You probably (IANAL) shouldn't need a lawyer to do this for you; a simple statement of the above terms (and whatever other terms you want) in an email, with an "acknowledged" or "confirmed" response from them should be good enough (IANAL).

Another point to mention is that this is an unusual request from a former employer. This is not normal. The poster said he left detailed instructions on how to continue development, and they somehow can't follow them. I smell trouble here. If the poster decides to go through with it, my best advice would be to arrange payment up front, or at least stagger their payments in such a way that the last billing won't be for very much. They sound like a nickle-and-dime operation trying to get something for free, and I'll bet at wrap-up they try to weasel out of payment. — 2 hours ago

wberry 526511 · Answer 7 · 2018-10-18 01:57:22Z

It is fairly normal for developers to do freelance work on the side. If you want to do it, just make sure there are no conflicts, legal or practical, between your full-time and part-time work arrangements. Ensure that both parties are crystal clear on what you are and are not agreeing to do for them, including time commitment. Research setting up your own corporation to protect yourself. Don't work without a fair, written and duly executed contract.

But based on your description, this is not, actually, "a bug in your code". It is a bug in their code, and you don't work for them any more. If you don't want to take the new contract, you don't have to. Simple as that.

More likely than not, in the absence of such a contract, you would not be allowed to fix, or even access, the code. And therefore, you could not possibly be responsible for it.

I wouldn't say it's fairly normal to have a side job. It's not unusual to have related hobbies, or to help someone out, but side job is unusual. — 10 hours ago
Half of the senior devs I know have done a side gig with a startup at some point in their careers. — 10 hours ago

jcaron 1435 · Answer 8 · 2018-10-18 05:21:55Z

One important point which hasn't been raised: what your relationship will be with them, and how they will pay you.

There are two options: they consider you as a (part-time, fixed-length contract) employee, or they consider you as a contractor. They cannot just "send you money".

In the first case, this may be a bit complex as you are no longer in the country, especially regarding taxes, social security contributions, etc. If you don't know in advance how long it will take, it can also be quite a headache for them in terms of contract, unless you agree on a fixed amount.

In the second case, you would need to invoice them. But that means being registered as a sole trader (or a company), declaring that revenue, and paying taxes and contributions on that income. This is turn means:
- quite a bit of overhead in terms of time it takes to do all that. How long it takes varies greatly from country to country. There are usually simplified regimes for low-revenue situations like this, but it's still a burden.
- since you are the one paying all the taxes and contributions, you need to take that into account when deciding how much you will charge.

In some countries, there are companies that will do the interface for you: they will invoice the target company for you, and pay you (minus taxes, contributions, and their commission) as an employee. You should pick such a company in the country you are currently residing in to avoid the above-mentioned issues.

In all cases, check your contract with your current employer, and what the rules are in your current work country. You many need to notify or even get a formal OK from your current employer before you can work for someone else at the same time.

In the case of being a contractor, you might not need to declare and pay taxes on that revenue, if it's a sufficiently small amount. In the U.S., for example, there's a minimum of (I believe) $600 - if you earn less than this amount in a single year through self-employment, you are not required to declare it as income or pay taxes on it. — 5 hours ago

BittermanAndy 88115 · Answer 9 · 2018-10-18 15:53:59Z

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing them in my spare time?

Yes, you could (not "should") - though beware of potential tax and conflict of interest implications. Whether or not you choose to do so is up to you.

Or should I provide the assistance for free since it is my morale responsibility, even though I am not contractually obligated to?

No. You do not have a moral responsibility here. It is to all intents and purposes impossible to write non-trivial code that is perfect both now, and into the future for all time - if we all had to support, for free, code that we wrote years ago, for previous employers, then after a few years of such "obligations" piling up we'd not have time to do our current jobs (for which we're getting paid).

An interesting thought experiment would be: if that code you wrote a year ago proved instrumental in getting your former employer a big contract with a new customer, would they have a moral obligation to send you a big bonus for writing it, even though you don't work there any more? And would they actually do so? Few people would answer "yes" to either question. So why should the inverse expectation come with any such moral obligation?

You did the job to (presumably) the best of your ability at that time, and got paid a (presumably) fair wage in exchange. That was the business relationship you had with your employer back then. It's now over. If you choose to, you may decide to strike up another business relationship with that employer - but it would be very foolish for such a new relationship to involve working for free.

JimmyB 3,8031522 · Answer 10 · 2018-10-18 20:17:08Z

Of course you 'can' do this. As others have stated you should check with you current employer before doing this.

I would ask yourself several questions:

What would happen if they have find another 'bug' in the future? Would you do the same thing the next time? The time after that?

Would you do the same for your current employer if you move on from your current position?

I have had something this happen to me. I was the SME (subject matter expert) on several systems when I was laid off 28 months ago. I got some calls months after my position was eliminated - several from users and the rest from operations folks (both had my cell). I kindly explained that I no longer worked there (not my choice) and their best course of action was to contact my old manager (responsible for the systems). He could assign to the developer now assigned to the system.

And no - you don't have a moral obligation to your old employer.

Blueriver 1012 · Answer 11 · 2018-10-18 20:57:34Z

Let me start by telling you that the title to your question can change everything. Is the code YOURS? I understand that you hadn't signed a contract with that employer at the time, but I think it's safe to assume that, as in every software developer contract, the code is not yours, but your employer's. Sure, you wrote it, but if you had a contract to go back to you would find a clause stating that all code you write for the company is the company's property, and not your property.

If we agree that it is your employer's code, then the other answers provide very good advice, and I hope this one gives you a bit of perspective on how to proceed. You were selling them your time and effort, and you did fulfill that obligation. You might want to sell them your time and effort again, if you have some to spare.

If you have any reason to believe that the code is in fact yours, then you should consult with a lawyer.

score 164 · Answer 12 · 2018-10-18 13:48:05Z

Fixing the bug is not your responsibility.

should I provide the assistance for free since it is my morale responsibility

No. It is not your moral or legal responsibility to provide free help. You are not their employee anymore.

I made sure to leave extensive documentation on how to use the program and how to edit the source code should they need to.

Good! You've already done what you need to do to help out. They are aware of the bug and have the resources to fix it themselves. They are expected to fix it, not you.

There are also several strong reasons why you should not do the work for free:

You're a professional now. Performing unpaid work does not benefit you.

You are currently employed by a new company. Performing after-hours work for your old company may be considered a conflict of interest or breach of contract.

It's been at least a year since you left the old company, and their systems may have changed. You have no idea how long this fix will take to complete.

How should you respond to their request?

Option A is to politely refuse, and direct them to the documentation that you left behind.

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing them in my spare time?

Option B is to discuss this with your current employer. Maybe you can negotiate a temporary contract to help out the old company, but you must get your current employer's permission first. Also be sure to ask how much time they (the old company) expect from you.

Are you directly argumenting against negotiating some price for fixing that bug as a freelancer/contractor? — 15 hours ago
Caution is advised. Before doing any further work for a previous employer, make sure that doing so does not get you into trouble with your current employer! — 15 hours ago
Caution yes - but that doesn't mean don't do it; I would send them my daily rates and tell them that this is the rate that I would charge, but confirmation needs to be made on if I can do it.... and establish if the cost will be prohibitive to them — 14 hours ago
Why (and where) should working for free be illegal? There is obviously a lot of voluntary work going on in the world, so could you be a bit more specific? — 10 hours ago
@AndreiROM - clauses stating that you have to at least disclose other business relationships is a pretty common thing in the USA. Perhaps the best compromise is to inform them that OP will be doing this (assuming there is no contractual language requiring permission), on their own time, outside of work, and that they are being informed as a courtesy. But, yeah, Carcosa is right that you don't do this for free. I'm fairly confident that the previous employer is probably contacting with the expectation of paying OP, figuring OP could fix it most expeditiously vs other options — 3 hours ago

Dan 5,30521222 · Answer 13 · 2018-10-17 19:46:07Z

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing them in my spare time?

Yes if you feel deeply with it. You are writing code so they can make a profit. As an aside, it's entirely possible your current company will not allow you to work. Check with your manager if you are allowed to do this before asking about the contract. Most companies I've seen have clauses/rules regarding working for a similar company while employed there.

Or should I provide the assistance for free since it is my morale responsibility, even though I am not contractually obligated to?

No, I don't think you have a moral responsibility for fixing your error. If you wrote a software that solved world hunger, then yes, maybe in such a case. However, given that you were making money, and they were making money off you, then there is no moral obligation or what not.

I agree, it is the company that has the responsibility especially when decide to hire a 3 month intern instead of creating a real job.. — 11 hours ago
It is 120% the company's responsibility to fix this bug. While you do have a moral obligation to write the best software you can while working for a company, that obligation ends as soon as you're no longer working for them. And code absolutely always has bugs in it. The fact that there were bugs in the software you produced for your old employer does not mean that you failed them while you were working for them. It means that you're a human being who did your best, which is all that can be asked of you. — 8 hours ago

Tom 1,976414 · Answer 14 · 2018-10-18 08:35:21Z

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge
them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing
them in my spare time? Or should I provide the assistance for free
since it is my morale responsibility, even though I am not
contractually obligated to?

There are no moral obligations in business.

You were paid by the hour, not by the result. And from what you described the company is seeking your assistance from a neutral position, they are not angry or threatening you.

Most likely, they already did a quick guestimate and believe that asking you to fix the bug will be faster, cheaper and possibly less likely to introduce other bugs than hiring someone new who is unfamiliar with the code.

Their request is an absolutely rational one. The person who wrote the code is usually the best person to fix a bug. Reaching out to you with a request for help is an obvious solution. Most likely, they will not be surprised by you asking for payment, and most likely they would not be losing sleep if you refused.

So yes, if you wish to, you can offer them to fix the bug at an hourly rate that you find justified. You should detail everything you mentioned above - that you are full-time employed, would complete this work in your spare time (important for an estimate of deadlines!) and that you can only do the work remotely.

And yes, you should ask for compensation for your time. Why would you do this for free? Why would you assume they expect you do it for free? Would they do something for free for you?

And that is all there is to it. I would abstain from the philosophical musings of some other answers. Why they found the bug now, whether or not they read your documentation, if they already tried fixing the bug with in-house people - all of that is of no consequence to your question.

Don't overthink simple things.

When you reply, you should also say that you will have to ask your employer for permission. Assuming this is not a competitor, your employer will quite likely agree - I've had cases where an employer agreed "if you bring cake for everyone on Monday" :-) — 10 hours ago
@gnasher729 Not sure why you should have to feed people for the privilege — 10 hours ago
@LightnessRacesinOrbit Puts me in mind of the concept of Peppercorn Payments. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppercorn_(legal) The company being obligated to require a transaction to have something on both sides of the equation so that it doesn't legally count as them doing you a favour. I'm probably wildly wrong though. — 10 hours ago
@Ruadhan2300 Hmm perhaps but it's kind of weird to "pay current employer to do outside work" in the first place. Either your contract permits it or it doesn't. — 10 hours ago

score 12 · Answer 15 · 2018-10-17 20:25:07Z

Should I negotiate a new contract with my previous employer and charge
them money for this additional assistance that I would be providing
them in my spare time? Or should I provide the assistance for free
since it is my morale responsibility, even though I am not
contractually obligated to?

That depends on how you view your moral responsibility, how much you value your relationship with them, how long you think the bug fix will take, and how much you value this time.

You could just indicate you are too busy and thereby refuse to help fix the bug.

You could offer to take a quick look at the issue, then give them an estimate of how much time and at what rate it would take to fix the problem.

Or you could just agree to jump in and help fix it.

If it were me, and I didn't think it would take up too much of my spare time, I'd just do the latter.

In fact I have helped out previous employers. Many times.

I once left a Systems Administrator position. My replacement ended up deleting critical system files on a main drive and inadvertently deleting their only backup in the process. Although I had nothing to do with the cause, I worked with my replacement overnight all night long to rebuilt the operating system drive and create a viable backup, then went in to my regular work in the morning. I got a nice "Thank you" letter in return. To me, it was just the right thing to do.

An unpaid all-nighter is much, much more than I'd expect from anyone. (I actually think the extremity of the story hurts your answer.) But +1 for the suggestion to quote them an estimate or fix it if it's small. — 20 hours ago
Joe you are far too nice for your own good. I used to be like that, but now I realise that "free" niceness (or too much niceness) does not always have a positive impact on earth, and sometimes it has a negative effect. — 18 hours ago
@goamn - we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I believe being nice is its own reward. And I believe that people like to be nice to nice people. It's always worked out for me. — 12 hours ago
Niceness is fine, as long as it's not taken for granted or exploited. — 10 hours ago
@Ruadhan2300 - we each get to decide if we feel exploited or not — 9 hours ago

score 6 · Answer 16 · 2018-10-18 07:22:42Z

There are good and bad points in all the answers here, so I'm collecting the best parts into a single answer.

Fixing the bug is not your responsibility, but that does not mean that you should refuse.
You should feel free to work on this if you want to, after considering the following conditions.

You should check with your current company to ensure that you are allowed to do outside work. It is normal for developers to do outside work, but it is also fairly normal for companies to place restrictions on it.

You should not do unpaid work, but you don't need to request an exhorbitant fee, just one that fairly compensates you for your work. Generally contract work pays a higher rate than regular employment, perhaps as much as twice.

You should have a contract specifying the work to be done, either a rate of pay or a total contract price, and a timeline for the work, as negotiated between you and the company. If you choose to use a fixed price contract, make sure that the compensation is high enough to compensate you for the risk that it may take far more hours than you expect to complete the work. Make sure that you don't commit to a timeline that demands you to work more hours in a day or week that you want to.

There's no reason this needs to be a one-time thing. You can continue to maintain your old code on an as-needed basis, if you want to. However, each instance should be a separate contract, with no obligation for you to take any additional contracts in the future.

Ertai87 3,539213 · Answer 17 · 2018-10-17 20:51:14Z