The Four Secret Words That Allow Your Employer to Make You Do Almost Anything They Want

“Other duties as assigned” is often treated as a harmless catchall in job descriptions, but it can be used to assign work that was not anticipated. Some requests are mundane, such as covering a front desk or training a new hire. Other assignments can become far stranger, including requiring a fundraiser to weed a school lawn to protect fundraising outcomes, requiring an office manager to rent and use a carpet cleaner and clean personal carpets, and escalating expectations beyond “light housekeeping” into painting wall marks. In some cases, the assigned duties can also involve serious misconduct or unsafe conditions, such as a workplace where a manager’s side business creates illegal and dangerous circumstances for employees.

"“other duties as assigned.” That language generally feels like a formality-an obvious catchall to cover the reality that job descriptions can't list every small thing a job might task you with. In practice, though, that line can end up doing a lot of work in ways new hires never anticipated."

"“Back when I worked in fundraising for a Catholic girls' high school, the very expansive front lawn of the school had a lot of dandelions in it. The president of the school felt that it was my job, as the school's chief fundraiser, to weed the lawn on a regular basis because the presence of weeds instead of perfectly manicured grass could affect the school's fundraising goals. I refused.”"

"“I'm the office manager, and when I accepted the position, I was told there would be 'light housekeeping,' e.g., passing the vacuum and laundering the linens. Last week, I was told to rent a carpet cleaner and had to clean all the carpets and the carpets downstairs (and my boss's personal carpets as he also lives in the building). He is now talking about my painting the marks on the walls that don't come off with regular cleaning.”"

"“I was a day shift bartender, and my boss had a side business as a drug dealer. One morning I showed up to start my opening duties and there were massive amounts of”"

Read at Slate Magazine