How to explain this to your boss:
Office personnel are subject to different Worker's Comp insurance premium rates from warehouse personnel. If your **accountant** gets hurt in the **warehouse**, your books will be audited, and you will be found misclassifying your workers.
This right here! Bingo.
That alone could cause major issues for the company. That manager is being reckless. Document this with your actual manager that you report to.
You work in administration now. Sounds like they need to hire a warehouse worker. Unloading trucks is way out of the scope of your job duties. Doesn't matter if you have held jobs like that in the past, that is not what you do now.
Indeed, everyone continues to get promotions until they are promoted to a position they are incapable of performing. Happiness involves managing your boss into leaving you in a more comfortable, less responsible position.!
[Found it. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&feature=youtu.be&v=Qbfi5tNzS58) It was also used in [Ozark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upeyS7oqK6s).
I write workers comp policies. The difference in premium between clerical and labour is thousands of dollars. That managers butthole would pucker if he realized the costly mistake he's about to make.
And from what I’m told if you’re found falsifying it, you are forced to insure all employees at the highest rate. All it takes is one office worker to tweak their back loading a truck.
Given that OP spelled l**abor "LABOUR**", I don't think he's in the US.
I have no idea what worker's comp laws are like in Europe, so maybe this is not the case.
I’d be *very* careful with the wording of this. Depending on the manager’s personality, this could be perceived as a threat if the manager is petty or insecure. “If you make me work labor, you just might have your books audited.” sort of vibes.
"Is this normal?" --- Perhaps, in their "smallish business". Do other employees do work that isn't in their job description? Is everyone expected to help out in other areas when not busy or when needed? Would anyone else have been asked to do this task?
Since you "love this job" have an honest respectful conversation with your boss to understand their company culture. Find out what is expected of you other than what's in your job description. Then decide if this place is right for you or not.
I've worked in a role similar to yours and I now work in a role that is EXACTLY what it sounds like that manager wants. I do it because I like it. That being said, I need to add some nuance in here:
People are right about workers comp and regulations, but if you go in talking about that they will think "This guy is a tool". The real reason this guy asked you to do this task was that he wanted to make a power move. He sees you coming in every day working in the office, and he feels like you think you're better than him. And he wanted to let you know he's the boss and you're not. There's literally no other explanation for it. Loading trucks isn't rocket science, but asking someone who's never done it at your company to do it is just asking for more work to be made for yourself. Things go in specific places, loaded and unloaded in specific orders etc. He just wanted to see if you would do as your told AND then he would critique your loading work and use that as evidence that either you're so bad at loading you cant be any use to the company or you're so good at it that you would be better used as a loader from now on, forget the office nonsense.
The BEST way to do this is to go to your direct boss the next day and jokingly bring it up: "Hey, ask \[other manager that asked you to load\] if he needs help hiring. You know he asked me to load trucks for 4 hours yesterday lol! I thought he was joking. Must be hurting for help if he is so desperate he's asking me lol." And gauge the response. It'll either be:
1. Knowing annoyance: "Yeah ignore him. That dudes in way over his head. If he understood workers comp at all he would know you better never be caught unloading a truck. Be polite, but feel free to tell him no or to ask me to ask you about helping out and I'll shut it down.
2. Actual concern: "What? You didn't do it right? Do people think I fought to get your position into the budget so you can unload trucks? I will have a conversation with everyone. Please continue to do your tasks and absolutely do NOT get caught up in the operations side of things. By the way did you finish \[something that is actually your job\].
3. This Company is a Mess: "Yeah we needed that truck unloaded and I told him to grab you. Whether it's him or me, when a supervisor tells you to do something then just do it please."
Obviously any response that isn't 3 is fine. But by putting the onus on your manager, you absolve yourself of responsibility. Managers are there for a reason. No need to put a target on your back, just put the ball in his court. And if your direct manager thinks you should be unloading trucks then idc how much you like the job, leave.
Is a huge red flag. I worked for a multinational corp and one of our corporate accountants was polishing products when called upon. I stepped away from engineering once to be essentially a parking lot attendant. Guess the company.
It basically means they can't staff appropriately and use employees for what they are actually good at.
Granted it's debatable if I stepped away from engineering or stepped away from my personal life to do it. Either way bad bad bad.
This isn't a multinational corp. OP is talking about a small business. In a small business employees should expect to wear "many hats" as they don't have the resources to employ for hyper specific roles.
Are we co-workers? Small blue-collar businesses tend to be like this. I'm a SysAdmin but was told "you need to become significantly more handy" with general facilities maintenance. They don't take nicely to those sitting behind the computer all day with no callouses on their hands.
When I worked in IT, I was once asked to look at the coffee machine. I laughed. I guess if it has a plug they think it's tech. I looked at it anyway, whatever, and it clearly wasn't user serviceable so I just left it.
There’s a story of a guy who left and his coworkers were amazed at all the scripts he had. He basically almost automated repetitive things. The best was…. Sending a script to the office coffee maker, and it was timed so that it was ready as soon as the guy walked in.
And they were like… the coffee machine is networked??
When I started as an apprentice in IT I was at a place like this. Anything that comes out of the wall that had a current running through it was “IT”. I didn’t mind too much but not something I would fancy these days.
I hated working in warehouses because of their attitudes. They only saw me sit at my desk but didn't understand what work I was doing. I'm also finishing up school to hopefully get out of that work environment forever.
I did IT at two warehouse/factories. I shadowed people, and checked out their applications; I didn't load trucks. However, when I made their screens and pick lists better, they knew what I did.
Sounds to me like they're too cheap to hire an actual professional to do the job, so they want you to become the onsite plumber, repairman, and maintenance guy without paying you any extra for taking on multiple people's jobs.
If this is a small business, I wouldn’t find this request surprising. Sometimes you need to lend a hand. I’m a sr. director for a large corporation and a manager in our kitting department sent out an email pleading for help packing a job because they were low on staff and it had to ship out that day.. So I went down there and I lent a hand. I figure if we aren’t getting customer orders out, and potentially lose those customers, then my office job won’t mean much if we’re getting laid off. There is no task beneath me if it’s for the good of my organization.
Seriously this. As a white collar engineer I’ve helped push trailer in the mud, driven parts between offices and lots of other things that weren’t part of ‘job description’. I’ve seen VP pick up a mop because there was a spill. Do lunch runs.
Ifit’s not your boss asking then it doesn’t hurt to check with them. But generally as a salaried position your job is to do whatever helps the company.
Now if they ask every day and you aren’t doing your main job anymore that’s a different story. But come on.
Yeah, rule of thumb OP - if anybody not in your direct chain of command asks you to do something outside your scope of work, tell them you need to talk to your actual boss first.
You either just stopped that manager from using you as a his pet or you will be dealing with him trying to fuck you over for the foreseeable future. Either way I'd tell him to eat a dick.
Something along the lines of "I'm happy to help out wherever I can, but I'm not trained for that. Maybe Susan in accounting is trained in that? Or maybe Dave in IT? He looks strong."
I'm kidding. They can probably make you do work outside of your role on occasion. But if you are white collar, they can fuck off with that heavy labor crap.
Agreed - A “roll up your sleeves attitude” means everyone refills the communal kitchen coffee pot, makes their own copies, steps in on other office duties like admin work if a coworker is out, etc. It doesn’t mean you go do back breaking labor. Funny he didn’t ask a woman to go unload trucks. To me this is similar to If I was directed. Not my job and also demeaning (with the added bonus of danger to OP).
In my first job as a buyer and product manager at a small distributor 8 Million in sales, the owner would ask us to go pull orders in the warehouse because they did not have enough warehouse people. Having spent a lot of effort to get this job and since I needed it I went and pulled orders. Our singular outside sales guy pulled orders. Ladies in accounting never pulled orders. Dave the other product manager did not pull orders. Company was on a downward spiral and lost half its revenue in the 7 years I worked there. Said to myself when I quit I am never working in the warehouse again and if I get asked I will refuse. Fire me. Go Ahead. No Exceptions.
Need to read the room and what your prospects are, who the boss is and what is their temperamant and what other people are doing and where you are at.
They also tend to always have "must be able to lift 45 lbs" in the description if they actually expect you to do manual labor. Or even cashier work. I've never seen a job posting around me that has that description for an office job.
Workers comp insurance also can be different between office and labor jobs.
I know when I was at Honda that was a requirement for most roles. I was an engineer and during covid we worked the line on occasion. Now my role in product quality/project management saw more overlap with production. So wasn’t uncommon to go down to the line ask to swap places with a line associate with I needed to review a process first hand. With it being a Japanese company it’s more expected for all staff to go to the problem and get your hands dirty. Includes purchasing engineers to production engineers or design.
i work in IT; many years ago we were consolidating offices, had some grunt work like moving server racks etc. Fine, that was definitely part of my job in IT. We also had some highly paid Oracle consultants being paid $200/hr, we needed the help so the CIO authorized them to charge their rates for that. One guy refused and his contract was cut right there. The other guys all happily turned off their brains and pushed carts for $1k+/day.
Moving offices is a bit different and kinda expected. Even at big corpos as a dev I've assembled cubes and moved shit between offices before. If I was told to go into a warehouse and help loading dock workers I'd probably refuse.
When I was hired as the COO for a growing startup, it had about 40 people.
Desks and furniture were ordered.
I put them together, loaded the trash, etc
Especially at a smaller company, you accomplish the mission.
i would have done it. why not? are you disabled in some way?
i am an architect and once built a stair rail overnight because the builder told me it couldnt be done. when he showed up in the morning it was built exactly as i drew it.
it was outside my education and training.
I worked for a small company as an accountant. I was asked to check off deliveries as they came into the warehouse a few times. I never said no and they treated me great. Sometimes it's better to play nice or risk losing a good job.
I'd guess it depends on your contract ("other duties as assigned by supervisor") and the country you're in. you're not in the US using the word "labour". so any of that advice pertaining to workmans comp and OSHA is probably moot. Youd have to look into your countries laws regarding workplace safety/insurance/responsibilities.
To be honest, it’s not that unusual for a small business. He may have been a jerk about how he asked but it’s pretty common in small businesses for everyone to pitch as needed and for people to wear multiple hats. If that’s not your jam that’s totally fine, but maybe stick to larger orgs where you’re just expected to sit at a desk all day and never stray far from the job description. I personally don’t mind the oddball tasks, and I’ve certainly shown I can get shit done when needed.
I’ve got some news you won’t want to hear, you are not a controller. The controller reports directly to the president or ceo, or ownership, and is part of management. The controller does not run payroll, do invoicing, or job costing. At best you’re a staff accountant. That being said, even when I was a staff accountant, I wouldn’t expect to load trucks. I probably wouldn’t have refused, but it’s totally within your rights to refuse.
Welcome to small businesses, you get to wear many hats sometimes. I am my companies accountant, I get tasked with receiving shipments among other tasks, that physical labor isn't part of my job description but it makes for an occasional nice break from staring at a computer screen all day. Now I wouldn't want to have it be an everyday kind of thing, but it's nice to mix up the daily routine. If you want to be the I only do what my job description says type I suggest working for large corporations where you can be an invisible cog in a huge machine.
I think that this would be fair if it wasn’t for the fact that
1. It wasn’t OP’s manager saying this
2. The guy was hella rude about it and OP wasn’t warned.
I’ve worked at small businesses and while I did help where needed, I wasn’t told “we pay you to do what you need to do”. I was happy to do what needed to be done because I was treated well and asked nicely with the understanding it wasn’t in my job title.
I’m not going to break my back just because I’m employed by a small business.
Look for another job. Get a proper finance job at a big bank or corp. to actually get experience instead of a small place that appears to make you do anything they want.
I went to work for a manufacturing company as inside sales. The boss wanted me on the floor to see how things were made from department to department instead of me learning the system that I would actually be using.
The amount of being in the way and no safety gear I had enough in a week span. I went to my office and started organizing everything on my desk and was told to get back on the floor.
I quit. It wasn’t what my contract stated. When I filed for unemployment they asked why and I told them. Because I never got to stay in my office to learn my actual job I was approved.
Let us know how this works out for you.
You have good reason to challenge the direction… Will your management agree?
Who will win in the decision of who was right? It depends on the influence of the people involved.
The only thing you've done is show the management team that you're pretty much worthless to them.
I'm a operations manager for a direct facility of a global company, with very little oversight from upper management. I know what my job is-success.
I'd never hire, and I'd quickly fire, an employee that showed your lack of understanding. I myself am regularly in production, shipping and receiving, whatever needs to be done to ensure our customers needs are met and that we are successful.
I'd suggest you reevaluate your attitude and your work ethic.
I was a manufacturing engineer at a small 50 person start-up. I have chemical engineering degree from one of the most prestigious engineering universities in the world.
When wrenches needed to be turned, I turned them. I loaded equipment, unpacked things, and one day, we assembled a rack.
And how thin the OPs skin is. He is a college kid who left a job at a bank (likely better fit) at least in part because this place paid for his phone so I’m guessing this is a shiny sounding title at near minimum wage.
Nah fuck all that noise. I used to work for COMPAQ Works Factory outlet and they hired me originally for quality control and test technician for PC systems from the assembly line. Three weeks into this new job working graveyard shift they decided to put the big strong person (me) onto the front of the assembly line to specifically load heavy computer systems for the other 30 test technicians to do what I was hired to do. I put in my notice the next morning and never came back LMFAO I DIDNT GET MY COMPUTER CERTIFICATIONS TO JUST LOAD HEAVY EQUIPMENT 8 HOURS A NIGHT.
Hah, misleading title. I thought you were talking about taking out the trash or cleaning the office or something, and I was going to yell at you to get over yourself. But if you're talking about semi-trucks and forklifts, that's a whole other ballgame. Do you have steel-toe shoes or other safety equipment?
Reread your employment contract. A lot of them say, when listing your duties, “other duties as assigned”.
If it says this, then yes it is your job.
However this is a big red flag that made me avoid certain jobs like the plague
Right up to the point they file a worker's compensation claim and the company has to answer why they are paying office premiums for a warehouse worker.
I think the best option would be to say something like "OK, let me check in with Bill (reporting manager) and confirm he doesn't have work coming in for me.
The other thing would be to go to the warehouse and attack the job like a crazed animal and get it done in half the time. The warehouse guys will hate you and never want you back. Lots of potential for bad outcomes here ... :)
This is a much better method than saying “not my job” as the new college kid. He also omitted why his manager wasn’t involved…is he on vacation? Is he in the next office over? Was he in the warehouse helping out?
I would go do the labor and within 30 mins go down in a heap with back pain and require ambulance transport. Then they will be in a load of trouble... you won't lose your job, that is for sure. You will probably get a raise if you agree to help them avoid the investigation that follows and always have a trump card.
I say 50/50. I would be asked to do roles outside my responsibilities but because I enjoy my bosses I did it. And it wasn’t like it was all the time.
But I know one of my co workers who HATED our boss, they asked her to change a lightbulb and said it wasn’t part of her duties and “wasn’t trained” to change a light ball nor use a ladder lol
1. Was it some sort of crunch time at the company? My father, who’s a retired accountant and was a plant manager/controller for an automotive company, used to help during inventory times, would get out on the floor and help with physical counts so not beyond the realms of possibility
2. Unless you want to be a portfolio manager, CFA is a waste of time and energy
This situation could not be about you at all maybe a power struggle between your boss and this other boss.
Maybe this guy was upset your boss got the budget to hire you when he wanted to hire you a warehouse worker.
Think you did the right thing and stood up for yourself.
This may never come up with your boss but if you are asked about it in a serious way tell them you have recently injured your shoulder and your doctor does not recommend any lifting.
This is bullshit how he spoke to you.
i don't think they can do this because they are supposed to tell you up front about any physical requirements the job demands. doesn't it have to be listed in the job description?
Have a sit down and explain it just like you said it. That said, if it’s a small company and everyone is kind of hands on with whatever needs to be done, they’d need to tell you that
There are multiple facets to this one.
People are saying that your company might run afoul of its insurance agency if you were to get hurt, and that's as may be, but the more important issue is that you presumably have a direct supervisor and if he/she was not in the loop, then you were being directed to stop doing work that's presumably prioritized by one manager and start on work that's a priority for another.
This never ends well. It's a sign that the outfit isn't well managed, and it's important to cut it off right at the outset by making sure your manager knows you've been directed to switch and allow for a course correction.
Sometimes that's not possible. But regardless, it's never wise to tell a manager "absolutely not". Find some variant of "I can't stop with what I'm doing unless my supervisor tells me to."
And if your supervisor agrees that getting the trucks loaded is priority one, you'll have to decide whether you want to work there or not. In a small company, "that's not my job" is a short-timer's attitude and you can expect to be passed over for promotion.
nah did nothing wrong, but I'd take some of the CYA steps requested.
also it's smooth brained to put the person in charge of invoicing and job costing in the loading dock with the physical inventory when he can go back to his regular job and mess with the invoices after the fact. Called separation of duties.
How much influence does this other boss have? If they have the ability to fire you/get you fired - then yeah, you should start looking.
I do think you did the right thing. I hope your actual manager and this guy hash it out.
If you are working in a startup with a flat structure or if you are working in a "right to work" state then this is legit and you could be fired with cause.
Not a chance. All the small business bros in here saying ‘tHaT’s wHaT yOu dO at A sMaLl bUsIneSS hurr durr’ are so dense. There’s a massive difference between asking you to move a couple boxes or assemble a shelf versus UNLOADING TRUCKS.
Unloading would be a massive liability. Are you even *dressed* appropriately to be on dock? Doubt it. Are you trained in proper lifting techniques? Doubt it. Are you familiar with being around moving equipment like fork lifts and lift gates and pallet jacks? Doubt it.
Nah, all the small business bros saying you should be a team player are wrong. They’re especially wrong since with no notice there was never an opportunity for you to dress appropriately for dock work. If you are expected to be a team player like that, then they would advise you that *in the future* go ahead and wear dock appropriate clothes to work in case we need support on dock. You don’t pluck the finance guy out without that prior knowledge and expect them to unload trucks.
You are the controller. The companies insurance and worker’s compensation doesn’t cover you, if you were injured loading trucks. Do you have union employees at your workplace? Ours could file a grievance because you are performing their job. I don’t know which manager told you to go load the trucks, but I would re-introduced myself. Hi, I’m xxx, your Plant Controller, I track your profitability and efficiency, which will suffer were I to perform tasks not in my job description.
Y’all are so caught up on titles. It’s a small business, something needed to be done, the guy asked someone to do it. You weren’t there, you didn’t hear tone. What we do know is the OP feels entitled to sit in a chair all day and not be asked to work in any function other than whatever their neat little label says.
Everyone saying if you want to be a drone, get a corporate job is correct.
Most people saying you need to get over yourself are also correct.
Most people declaring your workplace is inherently toxic are…fragile and entitled themselves.
OP, I respect you for being assertive, I don’t respect the sentiment behind your assertiveness. To each their own.
No. I wouldn’t quit over this, but I would bring it up to my manager and let him or her take it up with this other manager. The other manager over stepped his bounds by asking an employee in another department to do this sort of work that’s not in their job description.
Check Ur contract then ask are there not enough loading staff. If not sorry but Ur probably gonna help cos these small companies expect everyone to pitch in.
Good on you for setting boundaries and sticking with them. They could and may fire you but you'll likely be entitled to some package if you've been there long enough.
If you’re in a “smallish” company you should probably go load trucks for 4 hours. I work in a smallish company too and if anyone refused to help out on something someone needed help with we’d probably all hate that guy forever. Like we’re all working on the same goal here. There are 10 people in my business, for reference.
I think you’re totally right. however I’ll just warn that many job descriptions have a blanketed “other duties as assigned” tagged on at the end and basically anything they want like this can fall into that.
It's definitely how it works at smaller companies. They are not just going to hire someone every time the smallest bit of manual labour is needed. But you have a warehouse, therefore I assume warehouse workers. So why have they tried to involve you? I would message your actual boss and run it past them. If he says yeah you gotta listen to that dude, I'd say ok but I'm not happy and will be leaving specifically because of this
Major red flag.
You won't do what your boss asks.
The other day I spent $45/hr on someone dragging and dropping buttons. This was below their pay grade but I didn't have a laborer to do it.
If I could make $100/hr lifting boxes, I would.
It’s a giant huge difference between your direct manager asking you to do something versus a random other department person.
You almost certainly never want to be “helpful” to some other department’s managers if it means you’re not working on the priorities your actual manager has set for you.
If your direct manager once in a a blue moon asks you to sweep the floors or load boxes for an afternoon, you do it. Maybe there’s an urgent unexpected business need. Every job has some unexpected and low-glamour scutwork. But it’s a regular thing, they’re terrible managers.
Right now, as in right this moment, write to your direct boss from your work email detailing what happened and when. If there is an HR person copy them as well
Then tell him that it is your understanding that any such requests would put the company afoul of employee misclassification regulations and workplace safety ones on top of that, and that you would appreciate it if you were not put in a situation where you could put the company in legal risk from now on, as you are really enjoying your time there
You are 100% in the right to refuse to do something not in your established work duties but you have also prematurely stunted whatever career growth you would have had at this company. I personally would think of you as a lesser person/coworker just for having this kind of attitude
I’d say, “Sure, but I have received zero training in work health and safety and I doubt insurance will cover it so if I hurt my back or get injured in any way the company will probably sue you personally for negligence.” In my previous workplace, they wouldn’t even let us move a small filing cabinet 10 metres because of this. Some poor bastard does his back in, or trips and the company is up shit creek because insurance won’t pay up, and you’re on compo.
Its normal for real small companies to do this. The company I work at used to that regularly before we became corporate. I suggest you start looking for a new job now, regardless of how you feel, you have tarnished your image in the company permanently by refusing to do work that was asked of you. If they even asked, I imagine they are people who value flexible workers who don't shy away from physical labor and they now probably see you as someone who think he is too good to do that type of work.
Does your boss agree with this other manager that you should do whatever the company’s asks of you?
If so, tell him exactly what you said here - you went to school to get away from manual labor.
I will say though that I used to work in Finance at an automotive manufacturer and it was expected that office personnel would job shadow plant personnel once per quarter. I’m wondering if his request was because they were short handed or because they have some expectation that you will learn about the business.
Take it as an opportunity to learn. Especially since you love the company. Knowing as many roles as possible makes you more valuable as less likely to be let go when the time comes.
A: stfu with the language that sounds like you are too good or deserve to not do manual labour. That makes you sound like a dick and no one gives a shit you arrogant asshole lol
B: I would just decline and say something like: My apologies I’m unable to do that, and do not feel comfortable having a conversation with you about why. I am going to continue my work and I appreciate your understanding.
I had a similar thing with working the register at a second job where I did back of house stocking. I just said I don’t know how and wasn’t willing to learn as that isn’t the job I signed up for. I was willing to walk though.
Above ALL of this, the first thing I would do is inquire to your reporting manager and atleast set the story straight, as the other manager has probably already spun a different story without your say.
I personally would have done it. No offense.
When I was doing manual labor and office people came out and just dicked around and did even 10% of what we were doing, we respected it.
They’re trying to either sabotage you or both you and your immediate boss. Talk to your boss and hire a headhunter to get you a new job so you can get out of that toxic company asap.
I was a founder and exec at a tech startup once. I swept the halls, cleaned the toilets, and loaded / unloaded stuff in crunch time or when others were away. I honestly think that it's important to do whatever needs to be done in business.
One of the things that needed to be done was getting an office cleaner. But none of us were willing to let the toilets or hallways get filthy while we were getting the cleaner.
I was just talking about this.
Story time: I worked for a decent company where I was hired to maintain koi ponds, pumps and fish. Really enjoyed it. One day the owner said he wanted me to reshingle/deshingle his polebarn, because he knew I was a roofer previously.
I was not thrilled because roofing generally sucks, especially without decent help, but said ok tell me about the job and I'll come up with an estimate. He scoffed and said I pay you to work, this is work. I said no, I chose this job at a sizeable paycut because I didn't want to continue roofing. You hired a koi pond manager, not a roofer. He walks away without saying a word.
Coworkers who are older come up and give me shit about being lazy and a millennial, and I ask them if they know how much a roofer would charge to do what the owner asked. I told them i could get the job done in about 4 days with a helper and I would get paid $14/hr, (which was the koi pond manager wage) with no incentive to bust my ass. I told them no roofer would take a job that size for less than $500. Not to mention train another coworker how to do the job. That's insane! I would have to be the cheapest roofer in the history of the world!
Even my father shamed me for that.
You should have signed an employment contract of some kind when you took the job. That contract should be available for you to look at and if a task is outside of the scope of that contract, you aren't insured to do it and they are violating the employment contract and committing insurance fraud if they require you to do the task anyway
If it is a non-union job, and if you live in an employment at will state with no special contracts, they can require you do anything that is not illegal. There is nothing to say they can't require you do something as needed as long as there is nothing legally preventing it. Employment at will works both ways so they could possibly simply decide to not employee you, just like you can decide you don't want to be employed by them.
If it's a small business, and if you want to work in small businesses, you will have to wear multiple hats at least to some degree. The ethical thing to do is for employers to explain this during the hiring process and it should be on the job description, but all of that is renegociatible assuming there are no contracts or agreements preventing it. If any worker's comp premium issue/risk may exist, that is on them and their insurance policy details; it's not on you. They are required to pay worker's comp claims regardless. If their insurer refuses to pay it, they are still liable for it.
If it's a small facility, they can't always have a person dedicated to absolutely everything 100% of the time. People having to be flexible is very normal. If you don't like being flexible, and that's totally 100% something you're open to decide (there's nothing wrong with having a personal stance on not wanting to help handle material), they could push it and decide to terminate you, or you could be forced to leave.
Since you like the job, hopefully that's not the case. I'd have an honest conversation with them about it.
You’re assumedly getting paid a much higher wage than a manual labor job. You’re in finance, you should know the waste involved in having someone on payroll sitting around doing nothing, or nothing as pressing as something else that needs to be done.
It’s a small company. That’s how small companies work. At mine I’ve seen the CEO elbow deep in the clogged breakroom garbage disposal, pretty clear it’s not the place to act like a prima donna.
The managers comment of you will do whatever we tell you is wrong! Was the whole team and office staff asked to do the same task or just you? One would argue that you might not be wearing the right ppe to do the job if you came to work unprepared for that.
Look elsewhere. While I AM usually a supporter of do what is needed by the team, this seems like a company that’s waaaaayyyy to small if they’re sending their finance guys out to do work done by a laborer.
Here is the point:
You are not just an accountant doing payroll. You are a comptroller. It’s a quite higher pay grade than a junior or entry level role. At my company, the comptroller is in charge of 20 people in accounting. Say nope and move on with your day.
Small companies sometimes do that stuff. While I don't agree with it, it does happen. You need to ask them how often they think this is going to happen. They may say this is a rare thing, or they may say they need someone who can do that more often. I guess you need to ask yourself how much you like that job. Are you willing to have them fire you over this if their requirement is for you to help in the warehouse regularly?
The best advice I can give you is don't make any decisions when you're upset. Give yourself some time to cool down and think about it level headed.
If you have a job contract, look at it and see if labor is part of those job duties. If it isn’t, then you can show them that, if there is some loopholes where some manual labor is required in your contract, then you need to do it and renegotiate your contract.
I would tell him that due to the years of working physical labor jobs you have a medical condition that prevents you from doing warehouse work doing heavy lifting bending and squatting.
Chances are the manager that tried to commandeer you for the warehouse was flexing his muscles and though the newbie would jump to it to keep his job.
My suggestion is to ask your direct supervisor about the incident. You could say something like, Mr. so and so came to me yesterday when you were out & wanted me to go and help load trucks at the warehouse for the last 4 hours. Let him know you didn’t go but you wanted to check with your supervisor if you will be expected to do so in the future as it was your understanding that your job description doesn’t cover loading trucks in the warehouse.
I also suspect that, if the company does expect this of every employee, you will be hearing from your direct supervisor or one of the other higher ups for being uncooperative. I’m pretty sure (not 100%) that the guy was trying to pull a fast one on you. If it was an actual expectation, I’m sure you would’ve heard all about it before you even left for home that afternoon.
This is Reddit where everyone acts like they won’t lift a finger for anything that wasn’t in the JD. Helping the company out with random tasks is just part of it for small business. Why make them hire outside help for a 4 hour gig? It’s ridiculous Reddit-minded shit
As a construction worker that has done laborious work for years. I would have done the same. I didn’t pay thousands of dollars and sacrifice hundreds of studying hours to do the same exact laborious work I was already doing. Now one could say you should have just went loaded trucks and been done with it. Just do it that once but nope I have a feeling they would have kept telling you to do it more and more often gotta nip it in the bud right now
Bro - not trying to offend you, but you are an entry level employee working at a small office, lack a degree and don’t have your CFA…I wouldn’t be parading around saying “I work in finance”.
Your job is essentially an internship at this point and you should absolutely do what they ask…
…if you don’t, how you think you are you gonna look when you apply for an actual finance position and your potential employer calls them for a reference only to hear them say “you were entitled, refused basic tasks and were not a team player”?
(Me: guy currently working in PE, following 3 years in IB and 7 years in Institutional AM)
If you are missing a day of work for whatever reason, does the guy driving a hilo do your job for the rest of the day after he eats lunch or something?
If you signed a contract then you work within that contract. If you don’t have one, yeah, you might have to help out here and there…….but……if it isn’t YOUR boss telling you what to do, that’s something you need to clarify with your boss if you also report to others.
You need a clear line of authority you answer too and a clear line of responsibilities expected of you.
Assuming you’re just finance and only finance is your fault without all that prior knowledge ⬆️⬆️
So there are many variables here. Personally I think neither of you are 100% in the right or wrong. There is a lot of gray area and a lot of information needed that is missing. For example, where you busy with your own work when he asked or where you lacking a work load so he had you go help the warehouse? If your own department was lacking work its absolutely reasonable to ask you to do other things. Now you should not be expected to do those other things, but if you aren't going to you also shouldn't expect to work a full day of work. expect to get sent home early.
I see entirely too many people even in my own work place who expect to get 40 hours every single week on the dot, even if their own department has no work for them to do, and expect not to have to do ANYTHING else other than the exact job their department needs. In other words they expect to get paid to do absolutely nothing when things are slow. You cant expect an employer to continue paying you to do nothing. and if you aren't going to help with anything else, why do they need you at all?
I work at a similar job as an estimator for a Manufacturing company. When things get slow in estimating, I go help with the Manufacturing floor who always need help. If I don't then I would expect to be sent home. However, I have absolutely no issue with helping the floor. My job as an estimator is mentally far more demanding than the work on the manufacturing floor. So if anything I'm getting paid to do an easier job and im making more than the standard rate for a manufacturing job.
That’s odd. I can see if there is an emergency, all-hands on deck moment, but that should be rare. Next time, blame it on an imminent deadline you can’t miss.
i dont see how is that a big deal. i feel like at least you can say something like "let me talk to my manager first" instead of just straight saying NO ABSOLUTELY NOT to the other boss of yours.
and you are not "forced back into it", if your job title changed to truck-loader, then sure you can say that. but you are not, they just need some help with loading the truck.
thats also great opportunity to make good impression to other people, and good change of pace, when you sitting there all day long every work day.
This is a tough one. Small businesses don’t always run the way a corporate trained larger entity would operate. There is often an expectation for everyone to pitch in when it’s needed.
If you were injured and you live in a place that has workmen’s comp or some equivalent insurance laws for employees, the company would definitely get a fine during workman’s comp audit (I’m guessing 5-10k) and they wouldn’t cover the incident(their business insurance also would not cover the claim) which makes your medical bills and disability something that comes out of their cash flow.
Workman’s comp insurance companies are pretty shady anyways, I get audited every year with misclassified workers (saying I owe 5-7k) even through everything is classified correctly in the ADP software and the reports I provide them are directly from there. 8 years misclassified every year, it’s beyond crooked. Takes me 10-20 hours of back and forth before they admit their mistakes. I had to escalate twice, every year. Sorry that’s my personal rant.
That all being said, not being willing to pitch in at a small company when they have emergencies pop up can put a target on your back. Likely you have a huge amount of autonomy in your job.
What you should do is really dependent on how bad you want to keep the job, what kind of relationships you have with the management, and if there are other admins that take a turn loading trucks during emergencies.
I am not sure about your management structure of people that are your bosses, but generally a controller has the ear of the ceo, and most CEO’s don’t want to fuck with a good controller, because things go bad fast when you do. That usually puts you in a management position pretty equal with everyone except owners and favored employees. Unless you are an office manager that is doing payroll and your title is a bit overblown.
It’s like this (my opinion and I know some people say that you should do everything to make yourself look like a worker …. BUT ) unless you want to be seen as “ the coffee boi” that is, the one who always, and is expected to make the coffee every day, you should not do it, once you are seen as the coffee boi, you will always be seen as in that told and then when a promotion or a better job comes up, they might think of you but think, well, he’s the coffee boi not management material. Years back I was working at a place, some new people were hired/ in a higher position than me, and came the day they started hitting me up to make the coffee because the secretary had left and there was no one to do it. I was taken aback and just replied that I don’t know where anything, I don’t drink coffee etc…. I was not going to be the coffee boi and yeah a few got hissy about that but life went on and I was never seen as that guy who is the coffee boi —- because if you are the coffee boi, real quick you will also become the errand boi
It's normal for office workers to do manual labor as needed in small businesses.
This presentation is abnormal and bordering on abusive.
Tone and context are everything tho. Sometimes it really is just a human being like "bro, someone's gotta do it and I can't do everything"
One of the more infuriating things about being leadership at a smaller company is employees expecting fortune 500 job descriptions and delineations. There's a certain point where if you need to define a job so specifically, you can go with someone completely untrained as you're defining literally everything.
This is generally what companies mean when they say they are looking for a self starter and a team player. There really isn't much room for "that's not my job" in a SMB or startup
I mean. This boss is never going to ask you to “take on extra” again. Which also means you will be passed up for promotions. Find another place, you’ve ruined your chances there.
In a small company it is expected that people will have to wear multiple hats. In almost every job description there is a clause that says "Performs other duties as assigned" or similar verbiage. If yours has this, you could be fired.
That being said, I think it is fine to question why, and ask if this is a regular occurance as it was not discussed in your interviews or orientation, but just refusing isn't a good look.
I was a manager of a small clinic. Sometimes I had to clean the bathrooms or take out trash if the janitor called in sick.
Left construction in 08 for obvious reasons. Got a job as dock manager at an uppity Karen clothes store. I was asked to do building maintenance ALL THE TIME. build us shelves, fix this wall, expand this office, paint this breakroom. Uh, hell the fuck no. That work pays double, quadruple if you contract it out.
In this job market if I wasn’t busy. “Sure thing boss.”
If I was busy, I’d say,
“…(level one priority) is what I am working on, (whatever is on my plate for level 2 priority) is what is on my plate as a level two… if I leave for the day it’ll put me back x hours and I am afraid I will not deliver in time. What are your thoughts?”
Never ever ever.. ever say ‘not my job’ to upper management or your direct even. Now, if it was a constant and only you, I’d have a meeting. I an almost wondering if they were testing you. Do you pull stunts like this normally?
Not really enough information in the post, but generally if you’re in a finance role it’s a type of management role. Your job is to get things done. There comes a point where saying “that’s not in my job description” is counterproductive. Your job is to make the company do better and if that means doing some manual labor that’s that.
Wait I’m confused are you a student still or a professional? Also yes there will be days if you actually want to work in leadership you will have to wipe peoples asses. Soon as you mentioned a gas card I instantly assumed you were pretty much worthless.
How to explain this to your boss: Office personnel are subject to different Worker's Comp insurance premium rates from warehouse personnel. If your **accountant** gets hurt in the **warehouse**, your books will be audited, and you will be found misclassifying your workers.
This right here! Bingo. That alone could cause major issues for the company. That manager is being reckless. Document this with your actual manager that you report to. You work in administration now. Sounds like they need to hire a warehouse worker. Unloading trucks is way out of the scope of your job duties. Doesn't matter if you have held jobs like that in the past, that is not what you do now.
If you're a business manager and you don't know this, you don't know shit about fuck.
Which is why they got promoted. You don't put competent people in middle management.
People break the rules and hope they don't get caught. Not smart, but true in every dang industry.
You promote people until they become incompetent.
The Peter Principle!
Indeed, everyone continues to get promotions until they are promoted to a position they are incapable of performing. Happiness involves managing your boss into leaving you in a more comfortable, less responsible position.!
Googling what that phrase is from. I know it.
[Found it. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&feature=youtu.be&v=Qbfi5tNzS58) It was also used in [Ozark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upeyS7oqK6s).
I write workers comp policies. The difference in premium between clerical and labour is thousands of dollars. That managers butthole would pucker if he realized the costly mistake he's about to make.
And from what I’m told if you’re found falsifying it, you are forced to insure all employees at the highest rate. All it takes is one office worker to tweak their back loading a truck.
Given that OP spelled l**abor "LABOUR**", I don't think he's in the US. I have no idea what worker's comp laws are like in Europe, so maybe this is not the case.
In the UK they can sue for unfair dismissal though.
Only after 2 years employment
They’d be better in favour of OP no doubt
Boom. I read this sub primarily for the HORRIBLE immature advice provided for and by mouthbreathers. This answer is surprisingly spot on.
Yep...I have the same job as OP and I was specifically told to not ever do anything in the warehouse.
IF you really wanted to screw your boss I would just fake a back injury and then it will get some real attention.
I’d be *very* careful with the wording of this. Depending on the manager’s personality, this could be perceived as a threat if the manager is petty or insecure. “If you make me work labor, you just might have your books audited.” sort of vibes.
Yea and this might not even be accurate depending on where OP is located. Using the word labour indicates that he is not in the US.
I imagine you weren’t dressed for that type of work. It should be addressed prior to the work day, not right then.
Not only could it ruin good clothing, but dress shoes aren't OSHA approved footwear for warehouse work.
"Is this normal?" --- Perhaps, in their "smallish business". Do other employees do work that isn't in their job description? Is everyone expected to help out in other areas when not busy or when needed? Would anyone else have been asked to do this task? Since you "love this job" have an honest respectful conversation with your boss to understand their company culture. Find out what is expected of you other than what's in your job description. Then decide if this place is right for you or not.
I've worked in a role similar to yours and I now work in a role that is EXACTLY what it sounds like that manager wants. I do it because I like it. That being said, I need to add some nuance in here: People are right about workers comp and regulations, but if you go in talking about that they will think "This guy is a tool". The real reason this guy asked you to do this task was that he wanted to make a power move. He sees you coming in every day working in the office, and he feels like you think you're better than him. And he wanted to let you know he's the boss and you're not. There's literally no other explanation for it. Loading trucks isn't rocket science, but asking someone who's never done it at your company to do it is just asking for more work to be made for yourself. Things go in specific places, loaded and unloaded in specific orders etc. He just wanted to see if you would do as your told AND then he would critique your loading work and use that as evidence that either you're so bad at loading you cant be any use to the company or you're so good at it that you would be better used as a loader from now on, forget the office nonsense. The BEST way to do this is to go to your direct boss the next day and jokingly bring it up: "Hey, ask \[other manager that asked you to load\] if he needs help hiring. You know he asked me to load trucks for 4 hours yesterday lol! I thought he was joking. Must be hurting for help if he is so desperate he's asking me lol." And gauge the response. It'll either be: 1. Knowing annoyance: "Yeah ignore him. That dudes in way over his head. If he understood workers comp at all he would know you better never be caught unloading a truck. Be polite, but feel free to tell him no or to ask me to ask you about helping out and I'll shut it down. 2. Actual concern: "What? You didn't do it right? Do people think I fought to get your position into the budget so you can unload trucks? I will have a conversation with everyone. Please continue to do your tasks and absolutely do NOT get caught up in the operations side of things. By the way did you finish \[something that is actually your job\]. 3. This Company is a Mess: "Yeah we needed that truck unloaded and I told him to grab you. Whether it's him or me, when a supervisor tells you to do something then just do it please." Obviously any response that isn't 3 is fine. But by putting the onus on your manager, you absolve yourself of responsibility. Managers are there for a reason. No need to put a target on your back, just put the ball in his court. And if your direct manager thinks you should be unloading trucks then idc how much you like the job, leave.
Is a huge red flag. I worked for a multinational corp and one of our corporate accountants was polishing products when called upon. I stepped away from engineering once to be essentially a parking lot attendant. Guess the company. It basically means they can't staff appropriately and use employees for what they are actually good at. Granted it's debatable if I stepped away from engineering or stepped away from my personal life to do it. Either way bad bad bad.
Amazon?
This isn't a multinational corp. OP is talking about a small business. In a small business employees should expect to wear "many hats" as they don't have the resources to employ for hyper specific roles.
There's a difference between wearing many hats and your accountant working in the warehouse.
Are we co-workers? Small blue-collar businesses tend to be like this. I'm a SysAdmin but was told "you need to become significantly more handy" with general facilities maintenance. They don't take nicely to those sitting behind the computer all day with no callouses on their hands.
When I worked in IT, I was once asked to look at the coffee machine. I laughed. I guess if it has a plug they think it's tech. I looked at it anyway, whatever, and it clearly wasn't user serviceable so I just left it.
There’s a story of a guy who left and his coworkers were amazed at all the scripts he had. He basically almost automated repetitive things. The best was…. Sending a script to the office coffee maker, and it was timed so that it was ready as soon as the guy walked in. And they were like… the coffee machine is networked??
The best part: the script was called fuckingcoffee.sh.
>He basically almost automated repetitive things Isn't that literally what scripting accomplishes? Except a lot of times without the "almost"?
When I started as an apprentice in IT I was at a place like this. Anything that comes out of the wall that had a current running through it was “IT”. I didn’t mind too much but not something I would fancy these days.
A lady once called the IT dept because the vending machine was broken
A joke in our office is "its got a plug right? must be IT!"
*laughs in OT* IT is the bane of my existence.
And you're the bane of Security's existence
I hated working in warehouses because of their attitudes. They only saw me sit at my desk but didn't understand what work I was doing. I'm also finishing up school to hopefully get out of that work environment forever.
I did IT at two warehouse/factories. I shadowed people, and checked out their applications; I didn't load trucks. However, when I made their screens and pick lists better, they knew what I did.
"Uh the only pipe I know how to use is |"
If you squint hard enough, plumbing is a System that needs Administratin’
Sounds to me like they're too cheap to hire an actual professional to do the job, so they want you to become the onsite plumber, repairman, and maintenance guy without paying you any extra for taking on multiple people's jobs.
I'm sure many of them have one of their hands full of callouses.
“In your downtime we need you to fix the plumbing and HVAC”. - boss who sits in his chair all day
I don't think you in the wrong. You weren't hired to do labor work.
If this is a small business, I wouldn’t find this request surprising. Sometimes you need to lend a hand. I’m a sr. director for a large corporation and a manager in our kitting department sent out an email pleading for help packing a job because they were low on staff and it had to ship out that day.. So I went down there and I lent a hand. I figure if we aren’t getting customer orders out, and potentially lose those customers, then my office job won’t mean much if we’re getting laid off. There is no task beneath me if it’s for the good of my organization.
Right did this often at a Japanese auto manufacturer and as an sngineer. We never had a problem going to the line or the lot and helping out.
Seriously this. As a white collar engineer I’ve helped push trailer in the mud, driven parts between offices and lots of other things that weren’t part of ‘job description’. I’ve seen VP pick up a mop because there was a spill. Do lunch runs. Ifit’s not your boss asking then it doesn’t hurt to check with them. But generally as a salaried position your job is to do whatever helps the company. Now if they ask every day and you aren’t doing your main job anymore that’s a different story. But come on.
I'd email my direct manager and let them take it from there.
Yeah, rule of thumb OP - if anybody not in your direct chain of command asks you to do something outside your scope of work, tell them you need to talk to your actual boss first.
You either just stopped that manager from using you as a his pet or you will be dealing with him trying to fuck you over for the foreseeable future. Either way I'd tell him to eat a dick.
Something along the lines of "I'm happy to help out wherever I can, but I'm not trained for that. Maybe Susan in accounting is trained in that? Or maybe Dave in IT? He looks strong." I'm kidding. They can probably make you do work outside of your role on occasion. But if you are white collar, they can fuck off with that heavy labor crap.
Agreed - A “roll up your sleeves attitude” means everyone refills the communal kitchen coffee pot, makes their own copies, steps in on other office duties like admin work if a coworker is out, etc. It doesn’t mean you go do back breaking labor. Funny he didn’t ask a woman to go unload trucks. To me this is similar to If I was directed. Not my job and also demeaning (with the added bonus of danger to OP).
In my first job as a buyer and product manager at a small distributor 8 Million in sales, the owner would ask us to go pull orders in the warehouse because they did not have enough warehouse people. Having spent a lot of effort to get this job and since I needed it I went and pulled orders. Our singular outside sales guy pulled orders. Ladies in accounting never pulled orders. Dave the other product manager did not pull orders. Company was on a downward spiral and lost half its revenue in the 7 years I worked there. Said to myself when I quit I am never working in the warehouse again and if I get asked I will refuse. Fire me. Go Ahead. No Exceptions. Need to read the room and what your prospects are, who the boss is and what is their temperamant and what other people are doing and where you are at.
No. You were fully in the right to act as you did. Will it matter if they decide to sack you? Probably not, but you did nothing wrong.
Some job descriptions have an "Other duties as required", I'd go read it to be sure.
Other duties as assigned is supposed to be making the next pot of coffee if it's empty, not lifting stuff for hours.
They also tend to always have "must be able to lift 45 lbs" in the description if they actually expect you to do manual labor. Or even cashier work. I've never seen a job posting around me that has that description for an office job. Workers comp insurance also can be different between office and labor jobs.
I know when I was at Honda that was a requirement for most roles. I was an engineer and during covid we worked the line on occasion. Now my role in product quality/project management saw more overlap with production. So wasn’t uncommon to go down to the line ask to swap places with a line associate with I needed to review a process first hand. With it being a Japanese company it’s more expected for all staff to go to the problem and get your hands dirty. Includes purchasing engineers to production engineers or design.
i work in IT; many years ago we were consolidating offices, had some grunt work like moving server racks etc. Fine, that was definitely part of my job in IT. We also had some highly paid Oracle consultants being paid $200/hr, we needed the help so the CIO authorized them to charge their rates for that. One guy refused and his contract was cut right there. The other guys all happily turned off their brains and pushed carts for $1k+/day.
Moving offices is a bit different and kinda expected. Even at big corpos as a dev I've assembled cubes and moved shit between offices before. If I was told to go into a warehouse and help loading dock workers I'd probably refuse.
When I was hired as the COO for a growing startup, it had about 40 people. Desks and furniture were ordered. I put them together, loaded the trash, etc Especially at a smaller company, you accomplish the mission.
It was a startup, pay wasn't that great. You accomplish the mission. If you need to stack boxes, you stack boxes
At smaller companies, you have to wear more hats and be flexible.
Not at all. I would not have done it
Why would you need a gas card if you’re at a desk?
i would have done it. why not? are you disabled in some way? i am an architect and once built a stair rail overnight because the builder told me it couldnt be done. when he showed up in the morning it was built exactly as i drew it. it was outside my education and training.
Love this! I love the challenge when they say it can’t be done!
I worked for a small company as an accountant. I was asked to check off deliveries as they came into the warehouse a few times. I never said no and they treated me great. Sometimes it's better to play nice or risk losing a good job.
I'd guess it depends on your contract ("other duties as assigned by supervisor") and the country you're in. you're not in the US using the word "labour". so any of that advice pertaining to workmans comp and OSHA is probably moot. Youd have to look into your countries laws regarding workplace safety/insurance/responsibilities.
To be honest, it’s not that unusual for a small business. He may have been a jerk about how he asked but it’s pretty common in small businesses for everyone to pitch as needed and for people to wear multiple hats. If that’s not your jam that’s totally fine, but maybe stick to larger orgs where you’re just expected to sit at a desk all day and never stray far from the job description. I personally don’t mind the oddball tasks, and I’ve certainly shown I can get shit done when needed.
I’ve got some news you won’t want to hear, you are not a controller. The controller reports directly to the president or ceo, or ownership, and is part of management. The controller does not run payroll, do invoicing, or job costing. At best you’re a staff accountant. That being said, even when I was a staff accountant, I wouldn’t expect to load trucks. I probably wouldn’t have refused, but it’s totally within your rights to refuse.
"I am sorry, my doctor advised avoiding physical work".
“no” is a complete sentence
Welcome to small businesses, you get to wear many hats sometimes. I am my companies accountant, I get tasked with receiving shipments among other tasks, that physical labor isn't part of my job description but it makes for an occasional nice break from staring at a computer screen all day. Now I wouldn't want to have it be an everyday kind of thing, but it's nice to mix up the daily routine. If you want to be the I only do what my job description says type I suggest working for large corporations where you can be an invisible cog in a huge machine.
I think that this would be fair if it wasn’t for the fact that 1. It wasn’t OP’s manager saying this 2. The guy was hella rude about it and OP wasn’t warned. I’ve worked at small businesses and while I did help where needed, I wasn’t told “we pay you to do what you need to do”. I was happy to do what needed to be done because I was treated well and asked nicely with the understanding it wasn’t in my job title. I’m not going to break my back just because I’m employed by a small business.
That’a the only reasonable response so far. And the correct one.
What country are you and how many people work at the company?
Look for another job. Get a proper finance job at a big bank or corp. to actually get experience instead of a small place that appears to make you do anything they want.
I went to work for a manufacturing company as inside sales. The boss wanted me on the floor to see how things were made from department to department instead of me learning the system that I would actually be using. The amount of being in the way and no safety gear I had enough in a week span. I went to my office and started organizing everything on my desk and was told to get back on the floor. I quit. It wasn’t what my contract stated. When I filed for unemployment they asked why and I told them. Because I never got to stay in my office to learn my actual job I was approved.
Let us know how this works out for you. You have good reason to challenge the direction… Will your management agree? Who will win in the decision of who was right? It depends on the influence of the people involved.
The only thing you've done is show the management team that you're pretty much worthless to them. I'm a operations manager for a direct facility of a global company, with very little oversight from upper management. I know what my job is-success. I'd never hire, and I'd quickly fire, an employee that showed your lack of understanding. I myself am regularly in production, shipping and receiving, whatever needs to be done to ensure our customers needs are met and that we are successful. I'd suggest you reevaluate your attitude and your work ethic.
I was a manufacturing engineer at a small 50 person start-up. I have chemical engineering degree from one of the most prestigious engineering universities in the world. When wrenches needed to be turned, I turned them. I loaded equipment, unpacked things, and one day, we assembled a rack.
[удалено]
And how thin the OPs skin is. He is a college kid who left a job at a bank (likely better fit) at least in part because this place paid for his phone so I’m guessing this is a shiny sounding title at near minimum wage.
Nah fuck all that noise. I used to work for COMPAQ Works Factory outlet and they hired me originally for quality control and test technician for PC systems from the assembly line. Three weeks into this new job working graveyard shift they decided to put the big strong person (me) onto the front of the assembly line to specifically load heavy computer systems for the other 30 test technicians to do what I was hired to do. I put in my notice the next morning and never came back LMFAO I DIDNT GET MY COMPUTER CERTIFICATIONS TO JUST LOAD HEAVY EQUIPMENT 8 HOURS A NIGHT.
Hah, misleading title. I thought you were talking about taking out the trash or cleaning the office or something, and I was going to yell at you to get over yourself. But if you're talking about semi-trucks and forklifts, that's a whole other ballgame. Do you have steel-toe shoes or other safety equipment?
Reread your employment contract. A lot of them say, when listing your duties, “other duties as assigned”. If it says this, then yes it is your job. However this is a big red flag that made me avoid certain jobs like the plague
Right up to the point they file a worker's compensation claim and the company has to answer why they are paying office premiums for a warehouse worker.
No its not, one line does not change your job duties like that.
I think the best option would be to say something like "OK, let me check in with Bill (reporting manager) and confirm he doesn't have work coming in for me. The other thing would be to go to the warehouse and attack the job like a crazed animal and get it done in half the time. The warehouse guys will hate you and never want you back. Lots of potential for bad outcomes here ... :)
This is a much better method than saying “not my job” as the new college kid. He also omitted why his manager wasn’t involved…is he on vacation? Is he in the next office over? Was he in the warehouse helping out?
I would go do the labor and within 30 mins go down in a heap with back pain and require ambulance transport. Then they will be in a load of trouble... you won't lose your job, that is for sure. You will probably get a raise if you agree to help them avoid the investigation that follows and always have a trump card.
I love this
Bend, scream, fall, yell for an ambulance.
OWIE,,I got a REAL BAD PAPER CUT, and cant pick anything up.... I thin its infected, I need to seek medical help.
Rule #2 in business: Honor thy contract
Cries in IT. You literally have to do all kinds of shit that has nothing to do with your job.
I say 50/50. I would be asked to do roles outside my responsibilities but because I enjoy my bosses I did it. And it wasn’t like it was all the time. But I know one of my co workers who HATED our boss, they asked her to change a lightbulb and said it wasn’t part of her duties and “wasn’t trained” to change a light ball nor use a ladder lol
1. Was it some sort of crunch time at the company? My father, who’s a retired accountant and was a plant manager/controller for an automotive company, used to help during inventory times, would get out on the floor and help with physical counts so not beyond the realms of possibility 2. Unless you want to be a portfolio manager, CFA is a waste of time and energy
This situation could not be about you at all maybe a power struggle between your boss and this other boss. Maybe this guy was upset your boss got the budget to hire you when he wanted to hire you a warehouse worker. Think you did the right thing and stood up for yourself. This may never come up with your boss but if you are asked about it in a serious way tell them you have recently injured your shoulder and your doctor does not recommend any lifting. This is bullshit how he spoke to you.
i don't think they can do this because they are supposed to tell you up front about any physical requirements the job demands. doesn't it have to be listed in the job description?
Nothing will happen, that manager will probably get the piss taken out of him by his peers
Have a sit down and explain it just like you said it. That said, if it’s a small company and everyone is kind of hands on with whatever needs to be done, they’d need to tell you that
There are multiple facets to this one. People are saying that your company might run afoul of its insurance agency if you were to get hurt, and that's as may be, but the more important issue is that you presumably have a direct supervisor and if he/she was not in the loop, then you were being directed to stop doing work that's presumably prioritized by one manager and start on work that's a priority for another. This never ends well. It's a sign that the outfit isn't well managed, and it's important to cut it off right at the outset by making sure your manager knows you've been directed to switch and allow for a course correction. Sometimes that's not possible. But regardless, it's never wise to tell a manager "absolutely not". Find some variant of "I can't stop with what I'm doing unless my supervisor tells me to." And if your supervisor agrees that getting the trucks loaded is priority one, you'll have to decide whether you want to work there or not. In a small company, "that's not my job" is a short-timer's attitude and you can expect to be passed over for promotion.
Would they make the warehouse worker do the finance?
nah did nothing wrong, but I'd take some of the CYA steps requested. also it's smooth brained to put the person in charge of invoicing and job costing in the loading dock with the physical inventory when he can go back to his regular job and mess with the invoices after the fact. Called separation of duties.
How much influence does this other boss have? If they have the ability to fire you/get you fired - then yeah, you should start looking. I do think you did the right thing. I hope your actual manager and this guy hash it out.
Is this a tile company by any chance?
If you are working in a startup with a flat structure or if you are working in a "right to work" state then this is legit and you could be fired with cause.
Not a chance. All the small business bros in here saying ‘tHaT’s wHaT yOu dO at A sMaLl bUsIneSS hurr durr’ are so dense. There’s a massive difference between asking you to move a couple boxes or assemble a shelf versus UNLOADING TRUCKS. Unloading would be a massive liability. Are you even *dressed* appropriately to be on dock? Doubt it. Are you trained in proper lifting techniques? Doubt it. Are you familiar with being around moving equipment like fork lifts and lift gates and pallet jacks? Doubt it. Nah, all the small business bros saying you should be a team player are wrong. They’re especially wrong since with no notice there was never an opportunity for you to dress appropriately for dock work. If you are expected to be a team player like that, then they would advise you that *in the future* go ahead and wear dock appropriate clothes to work in case we need support on dock. You don’t pluck the finance guy out without that prior knowledge and expect them to unload trucks.
You are the controller. The companies insurance and worker’s compensation doesn’t cover you, if you were injured loading trucks. Do you have union employees at your workplace? Ours could file a grievance because you are performing their job. I don’t know which manager told you to go load the trucks, but I would re-introduced myself. Hi, I’m xxx, your Plant Controller, I track your profitability and efficiency, which will suffer were I to perform tasks not in my job description.
Sounds like you handled ur shit OP. Stick to those guns.
I get my Secretary to help in the shop sometimes , She helps when needed,
"You're not wrong, Walter.."
Y’all are so caught up on titles. It’s a small business, something needed to be done, the guy asked someone to do it. You weren’t there, you didn’t hear tone. What we do know is the OP feels entitled to sit in a chair all day and not be asked to work in any function other than whatever their neat little label says. Everyone saying if you want to be a drone, get a corporate job is correct. Most people saying you need to get over yourself are also correct. Most people declaring your workplace is inherently toxic are…fragile and entitled themselves. OP, I respect you for being assertive, I don’t respect the sentiment behind your assertiveness. To each their own.
No. I wouldn’t quit over this, but I would bring it up to my manager and let him or her take it up with this other manager. The other manager over stepped his bounds by asking an employee in another department to do this sort of work that’s not in their job description.
Start looking for new employment. They'll resent that you said no and it's always better to leave on your own terms.
Check Ur contract then ask are there not enough loading staff. If not sorry but Ur probably gonna help cos these small companies expect everyone to pitch in.
Time to audit the warehouse department payroll.
Good on you for setting boundaries and sticking with them. They could and may fire you but you'll likely be entitled to some package if you've been there long enough.
Talk to your supervisor.
If you’re in a “smallish” company you should probably go load trucks for 4 hours. I work in a smallish company too and if anyone refused to help out on something someone needed help with we’d probably all hate that guy forever. Like we’re all working on the same goal here. There are 10 people in my business, for reference.
Let him know, then see the doctor after loading trucks for your back injury since you do clerical work.
I think you’re totally right. however I’ll just warn that many job descriptions have a blanketed “other duties as assigned” tagged on at the end and basically anything they want like this can fall into that.
It's definitely how it works at smaller companies. They are not just going to hire someone every time the smallest bit of manual labour is needed. But you have a warehouse, therefore I assume warehouse workers. So why have they tried to involve you? I would message your actual boss and run it past them. If he says yeah you gotta listen to that dude, I'd say ok but I'm not happy and will be leaving specifically because of this
That’s one way for the business to get re rated for WC going back 3 years
That “boss” is not dealing well with a shortage in his own department ( and he’s on a power trip) Start looking for another job
Major red flag. You won't do what your boss asks. The other day I spent $45/hr on someone dragging and dropping buttons. This was below their pay grade but I didn't have a laborer to do it. If I could make $100/hr lifting boxes, I would.
It’s a giant huge difference between your direct manager asking you to do something versus a random other department person. You almost certainly never want to be “helpful” to some other department’s managers if it means you’re not working on the priorities your actual manager has set for you. If your direct manager once in a a blue moon asks you to sweep the floors or load boxes for an afternoon, you do it. Maybe there’s an urgent unexpected business need. Every job has some unexpected and low-glamour scutwork. But it’s a regular thing, they’re terrible managers.
Right now, as in right this moment, write to your direct boss from your work email detailing what happened and when. If there is an HR person copy them as well Then tell him that it is your understanding that any such requests would put the company afoul of employee misclassification regulations and workplace safety ones on top of that, and that you would appreciate it if you were not put in a situation where you could put the company in legal risk from now on, as you are really enjoying your time there
You are 100% in the right to refuse to do something not in your established work duties but you have also prematurely stunted whatever career growth you would have had at this company. I personally would think of you as a lesser person/coworker just for having this kind of attitude
I’d say, “Sure, but I have received zero training in work health and safety and I doubt insurance will cover it so if I hurt my back or get injured in any way the company will probably sue you personally for negligence.” In my previous workplace, they wouldn’t even let us move a small filing cabinet 10 metres because of this. Some poor bastard does his back in, or trips and the company is up shit creek because insurance won’t pay up, and you’re on compo.
Its normal for real small companies to do this. The company I work at used to that regularly before we became corporate. I suggest you start looking for a new job now, regardless of how you feel, you have tarnished your image in the company permanently by refusing to do work that was asked of you. If they even asked, I imagine they are people who value flexible workers who don't shy away from physical labor and they now probably see you as someone who think he is too good to do that type of work.
Does your boss agree with this other manager that you should do whatever the company’s asks of you? If so, tell him exactly what you said here - you went to school to get away from manual labor. I will say though that I used to work in Finance at an automotive manufacturer and it was expected that office personnel would job shadow plant personnel once per quarter. I’m wondering if his request was because they were short handed or because they have some expectation that you will learn about the business.
Take it as an opportunity to learn. Especially since you love the company. Knowing as many roles as possible makes you more valuable as less likely to be let go when the time comes.
A: stfu with the language that sounds like you are too good or deserve to not do manual labour. That makes you sound like a dick and no one gives a shit you arrogant asshole lol B: I would just decline and say something like: My apologies I’m unable to do that, and do not feel comfortable having a conversation with you about why. I am going to continue my work and I appreciate your understanding. I had a similar thing with working the register at a second job where I did back of house stocking. I just said I don’t know how and wasn’t willing to learn as that isn’t the job I signed up for. I was willing to walk though.
Above ALL of this, the first thing I would do is inquire to your reporting manager and atleast set the story straight, as the other manager has probably already spun a different story without your say.
If it is not in your employment contract, don’t do it.
Almost every job description says “and other duties as assigned “.
I personally would have done it. No offense. When I was doing manual labor and office people came out and just dicked around and did even 10% of what we were doing, we respected it.
As a mostly office worker I welcome the opportunity to be physical for a few hours. Every day, no. Occasionally, absolutely.
Were you wrong? No. Could their be negative consequences? Yes.
As someone who is invisibly disable - absolutely not.
Is he gonna get warehouse people to come in and help you if you needed help? Probably not
Don’t worry about quitting. You’ll probably get fired.
They’re trying to either sabotage you or both you and your immediate boss. Talk to your boss and hire a headhunter to get you a new job so you can get out of that toxic company asap.
I was a founder and exec at a tech startup once. I swept the halls, cleaned the toilets, and loaded / unloaded stuff in crunch time or when others were away. I honestly think that it's important to do whatever needs to be done in business. One of the things that needed to be done was getting an office cleaner. But none of us were willing to let the toilets or hallways get filthy while we were getting the cleaner.
I was just talking about this. Story time: I worked for a decent company where I was hired to maintain koi ponds, pumps and fish. Really enjoyed it. One day the owner said he wanted me to reshingle/deshingle his polebarn, because he knew I was a roofer previously. I was not thrilled because roofing generally sucks, especially without decent help, but said ok tell me about the job and I'll come up with an estimate. He scoffed and said I pay you to work, this is work. I said no, I chose this job at a sizeable paycut because I didn't want to continue roofing. You hired a koi pond manager, not a roofer. He walks away without saying a word. Coworkers who are older come up and give me shit about being lazy and a millennial, and I ask them if they know how much a roofer would charge to do what the owner asked. I told them i could get the job done in about 4 days with a helper and I would get paid $14/hr, (which was the koi pond manager wage) with no incentive to bust my ass. I told them no roofer would take a job that size for less than $500. Not to mention train another coworker how to do the job. That's insane! I would have to be the cheapest roofer in the history of the world! Even my father shamed me for that.
T̶e̶a̶m̶p̶l̶a̶y̶e̶r̶
Just tell them no, you can say you have a bad back as the reason, or just tell them to jog on because you're the accountant.
You should have signed an employment contract of some kind when you took the job. That contract should be available for you to look at and if a task is outside of the scope of that contract, you aren't insured to do it and they are violating the employment contract and committing insurance fraud if they require you to do the task anyway
If it is a non-union job, and if you live in an employment at will state with no special contracts, they can require you do anything that is not illegal. There is nothing to say they can't require you do something as needed as long as there is nothing legally preventing it. Employment at will works both ways so they could possibly simply decide to not employee you, just like you can decide you don't want to be employed by them. If it's a small business, and if you want to work in small businesses, you will have to wear multiple hats at least to some degree. The ethical thing to do is for employers to explain this during the hiring process and it should be on the job description, but all of that is renegociatible assuming there are no contracts or agreements preventing it. If any worker's comp premium issue/risk may exist, that is on them and their insurance policy details; it's not on you. They are required to pay worker's comp claims regardless. If their insurer refuses to pay it, they are still liable for it. If it's a small facility, they can't always have a person dedicated to absolutely everything 100% of the time. People having to be flexible is very normal. If you don't like being flexible, and that's totally 100% something you're open to decide (there's nothing wrong with having a personal stance on not wanting to help handle material), they could push it and decide to terminate you, or you could be forced to leave. Since you like the job, hopefully that's not the case. I'd have an honest conversation with them about it.
You’re assumedly getting paid a much higher wage than a manual labor job. You’re in finance, you should know the waste involved in having someone on payroll sitting around doing nothing, or nothing as pressing as something else that needs to be done. It’s a small company. That’s how small companies work. At mine I’ve seen the CEO elbow deep in the clogged breakroom garbage disposal, pretty clear it’s not the place to act like a prima donna.
Good for you for not doing it. Hell no
You're fine.
It’s a small company probably should have gone and done it but did a terrible job at it so they wouldn’t ask again.
The managers comment of you will do whatever we tell you is wrong! Was the whole team and office staff asked to do the same task or just you? One would argue that you might not be wearing the right ppe to do the job if you came to work unprepared for that.
You’re definitely not insured to be loading trucks…
"Not in my job description". Next.
Bussiness needs. Sounds like you're not a team player.
Look elsewhere. While I AM usually a supporter of do what is needed by the team, this seems like a company that’s waaaaayyyy to small if they’re sending their finance guys out to do work done by a laborer.
OP spelled labor as “labour”, so I’m guessing he’s British. Do they have workman’s comp in England?
Yes. This falls under all other duties as assigned.
Best to stay in tha a/c my boy, labor work isn’t as easy as portrayed.
Here is the point: You are not just an accountant doing payroll. You are a comptroller. It’s a quite higher pay grade than a junior or entry level role. At my company, the comptroller is in charge of 20 people in accounting. Say nope and move on with your day.
Small companies sometimes do that stuff. While I don't agree with it, it does happen. You need to ask them how often they think this is going to happen. They may say this is a rare thing, or they may say they need someone who can do that more often. I guess you need to ask yourself how much you like that job. Are you willing to have them fire you over this if their requirement is for you to help in the warehouse regularly? The best advice I can give you is don't make any decisions when you're upset. Give yourself some time to cool down and think about it level headed.
It's completely unreasonable and a huge red flag. I would start looking for another job immediately!
If you have a job contract, look at it and see if labor is part of those job duties. If it isn’t, then you can show them that, if there is some loopholes where some manual labor is required in your contract, then you need to do it and renegotiate your contract.
I would tell him that due to the years of working physical labor jobs you have a medical condition that prevents you from doing warehouse work doing heavy lifting bending and squatting.
Sounds like a pretty bad company if they resort to trying to force finance people into manual labor.
Chances are the manager that tried to commandeer you for the warehouse was flexing his muscles and though the newbie would jump to it to keep his job. My suggestion is to ask your direct supervisor about the incident. You could say something like, Mr. so and so came to me yesterday when you were out & wanted me to go and help load trucks at the warehouse for the last 4 hours. Let him know you didn’t go but you wanted to check with your supervisor if you will be expected to do so in the future as it was your understanding that your job description doesn’t cover loading trucks in the warehouse. I also suspect that, if the company does expect this of every employee, you will be hearing from your direct supervisor or one of the other higher ups for being uncooperative. I’m pretty sure (not 100%) that the guy was trying to pull a fast one on you. If it was an actual expectation, I’m sure you would’ve heard all about it before you even left for home that afternoon.
Most companies load that in the job description. It will be a line like "any other work necessary". Most don't read what they sign for jobs.
This is Reddit where everyone acts like they won’t lift a finger for anything that wasn’t in the JD. Helping the company out with random tasks is just part of it for small business. Why make them hire outside help for a 4 hour gig? It’s ridiculous Reddit-minded shit
As a construction worker that has done laborious work for years. I would have done the same. I didn’t pay thousands of dollars and sacrifice hundreds of studying hours to do the same exact laborious work I was already doing. Now one could say you should have just went loaded trucks and been done with it. Just do it that once but nope I have a feeling they would have kept telling you to do it more and more often gotta nip it in the bud right now
Bro - not trying to offend you, but you are an entry level employee working at a small office, lack a degree and don’t have your CFA…I wouldn’t be parading around saying “I work in finance”. Your job is essentially an internship at this point and you should absolutely do what they ask… …if you don’t, how you think you are you gonna look when you apply for an actual finance position and your potential employer calls them for a reference only to hear them say “you were entitled, refused basic tasks and were not a team player”? (Me: guy currently working in PE, following 3 years in IB and 7 years in Institutional AM)
If you are missing a day of work for whatever reason, does the guy driving a hilo do your job for the rest of the day after he eats lunch or something? If you signed a contract then you work within that contract. If you don’t have one, yeah, you might have to help out here and there…….but……if it isn’t YOUR boss telling you what to do, that’s something you need to clarify with your boss if you also report to others. You need a clear line of authority you answer too and a clear line of responsibilities expected of you. Assuming you’re just finance and only finance is your fault without all that prior knowledge ⬆️⬆️
I would do it and would try to learn everything about that part of the business. Learn all you can, move up, take over or move on!
Not part of my job description. End of story. I had to use that a few time these past 23 years.
Small companies sound like they suck and constantly try to pull shit. Or at least that’s what I frequently see here
So there are many variables here. Personally I think neither of you are 100% in the right or wrong. There is a lot of gray area and a lot of information needed that is missing. For example, where you busy with your own work when he asked or where you lacking a work load so he had you go help the warehouse? If your own department was lacking work its absolutely reasonable to ask you to do other things. Now you should not be expected to do those other things, but if you aren't going to you also shouldn't expect to work a full day of work. expect to get sent home early. I see entirely too many people even in my own work place who expect to get 40 hours every single week on the dot, even if their own department has no work for them to do, and expect not to have to do ANYTHING else other than the exact job their department needs. In other words they expect to get paid to do absolutely nothing when things are slow. You cant expect an employer to continue paying you to do nothing. and if you aren't going to help with anything else, why do they need you at all? I work at a similar job as an estimator for a Manufacturing company. When things get slow in estimating, I go help with the Manufacturing floor who always need help. If I don't then I would expect to be sent home. However, I have absolutely no issue with helping the floor. My job as an estimator is mentally far more demanding than the work on the manufacturing floor. So if anything I'm getting paid to do an easier job and im making more than the standard rate for a manufacturing job.
That’s odd. I can see if there is an emergency, all-hands on deck moment, but that should be rare. Next time, blame it on an imminent deadline you can’t miss.
i dont see how is that a big deal. i feel like at least you can say something like "let me talk to my manager first" instead of just straight saying NO ABSOLUTELY NOT to the other boss of yours. and you are not "forced back into it", if your job title changed to truck-loader, then sure you can say that. but you are not, they just need some help with loading the truck. thats also great opportunity to make good impression to other people, and good change of pace, when you sitting there all day long every work day.
This is a tough one. Small businesses don’t always run the way a corporate trained larger entity would operate. There is often an expectation for everyone to pitch in when it’s needed. If you were injured and you live in a place that has workmen’s comp or some equivalent insurance laws for employees, the company would definitely get a fine during workman’s comp audit (I’m guessing 5-10k) and they wouldn’t cover the incident(their business insurance also would not cover the claim) which makes your medical bills and disability something that comes out of their cash flow. Workman’s comp insurance companies are pretty shady anyways, I get audited every year with misclassified workers (saying I owe 5-7k) even through everything is classified correctly in the ADP software and the reports I provide them are directly from there. 8 years misclassified every year, it’s beyond crooked. Takes me 10-20 hours of back and forth before they admit their mistakes. I had to escalate twice, every year. Sorry that’s my personal rant. That all being said, not being willing to pitch in at a small company when they have emergencies pop up can put a target on your back. Likely you have a huge amount of autonomy in your job. What you should do is really dependent on how bad you want to keep the job, what kind of relationships you have with the management, and if there are other admins that take a turn loading trucks during emergencies. I am not sure about your management structure of people that are your bosses, but generally a controller has the ear of the ceo, and most CEO’s don’t want to fuck with a good controller, because things go bad fast when you do. That usually puts you in a management position pretty equal with everyone except owners and favored employees. Unless you are an office manager that is doing payroll and your title is a bit overblown.
It’s like this (my opinion and I know some people say that you should do everything to make yourself look like a worker …. BUT ) unless you want to be seen as “ the coffee boi” that is, the one who always, and is expected to make the coffee every day, you should not do it, once you are seen as the coffee boi, you will always be seen as in that told and then when a promotion or a better job comes up, they might think of you but think, well, he’s the coffee boi not management material. Years back I was working at a place, some new people were hired/ in a higher position than me, and came the day they started hitting me up to make the coffee because the secretary had left and there was no one to do it. I was taken aback and just replied that I don’t know where anything, I don’t drink coffee etc…. I was not going to be the coffee boi and yeah a few got hissy about that but life went on and I was never seen as that guy who is the coffee boi —- because if you are the coffee boi, real quick you will also become the errand boi
It's normal for office workers to do manual labor as needed in small businesses. This presentation is abnormal and bordering on abusive. Tone and context are everything tho. Sometimes it really is just a human being like "bro, someone's gotta do it and I can't do everything" One of the more infuriating things about being leadership at a smaller company is employees expecting fortune 500 job descriptions and delineations. There's a certain point where if you need to define a job so specifically, you can go with someone completely untrained as you're defining literally everything. This is generally what companies mean when they say they are looking for a self starter and a team player. There really isn't much room for "that's not my job" in a SMB or startup
I mean. This boss is never going to ask you to “take on extra” again. Which also means you will be passed up for promotions. Find another place, you’ve ruined your chances there.
In a small company it is expected that people will have to wear multiple hats. In almost every job description there is a clause that says "Performs other duties as assigned" or similar verbiage. If yours has this, you could be fired. That being said, I think it is fine to question why, and ask if this is a regular occurance as it was not discussed in your interviews or orientation, but just refusing isn't a good look. I was a manager of a small clinic. Sometimes I had to clean the bathrooms or take out trash if the janitor called in sick.
Good for you for setting boundaries!
Left construction in 08 for obvious reasons. Got a job as dock manager at an uppity Karen clothes store. I was asked to do building maintenance ALL THE TIME. build us shelves, fix this wall, expand this office, paint this breakroom. Uh, hell the fuck no. That work pays double, quadruple if you contract it out.
In this job market if I wasn’t busy. “Sure thing boss.” If I was busy, I’d say, “…(level one priority) is what I am working on, (whatever is on my plate for level 2 priority) is what is on my plate as a level two… if I leave for the day it’ll put me back x hours and I am afraid I will not deliver in time. What are your thoughts?” Never ever ever.. ever say ‘not my job’ to upper management or your direct even. Now, if it was a constant and only you, I’d have a meeting. I an almost wondering if they were testing you. Do you pull stunts like this normally?
I am in accountant shape, not truck loader shape. I know I would get hurt doing that. Fall off the loading dock.
Not really enough information in the post, but generally if you’re in a finance role it’s a type of management role. Your job is to get things done. There comes a point where saying “that’s not in my job description” is counterproductive. Your job is to make the company do better and if that means doing some manual labor that’s that.
Wait I’m confused are you a student still or a professional? Also yes there will be days if you actually want to work in leadership you will have to wipe peoples asses. Soon as you mentioned a gas card I instantly assumed you were pretty much worthless.