Working rights

[Guest Basildon Fox]

My work is trying to get me and 3 other night colleagus to do some extra filing that is part of somebody elses job. There is getting on for 6 months worth of it there now and the person in question is making no attempt to do it even though they have been responsible for doing it for over 10 years now.

It is the second time this has happened. The first time we were told that the person responsible (they do not even work in the same section) had been told that after our initial help needed to stay on top of it. As I have said they have not made a single attempt to do so since.

Now we have refused to help again as the person whose job it is is getting paid to do it. We would not receive any extra pay so is this legal for my workto insist we do it?

[pSinatra]

What does your contract say? I know my contract says that my employer may ask for me to do work or overtime that is considered 'reasonable'. That is them covering their arses & giving them the right to ask me to come in on a Saturday morning to clean the toilets. They haven't yet........but I wouldn't put it past them & I'm not sure there is much I could do about it if they did.

Do the filing........chuck it in any-old-how.......& maybe they won't ask you again!!??

[Guest]

As pSin says it's down to your contract and usually there's a clause that'll cover anything the management wants but if they aren't forcing the person who should be doing it to do it then it wouldn't seem likely that they'll force you to do it.

Do you have a personnel rep or a union rep to speak to?

[Jon the Hat]

What is your job? Generally I would say that being helpful will pay dividends in the long run. I think it depends on how much you are paid and what your role is as to whether that is a reasonable expectation on the part of your employer.

[cambridgefox]

What is your job? Generally I would say that being helpful will pay dividends in the long run. I think it depends on how much you are paid and what your role is as to whether that is a reasonable expectation on the part of your employer.

Agreed,although i work for a small company if we are busy i will help put the boxes through the machines,glue and even deliver the packaging,although they are my customers and will help me achieve bonuses.

As people have said depends on the wording of your contract.

You say about paying dividends.My wife works as a business banking manager for a bailed out high street bank and we do not get any divs at the moment.gggrrrrrr.Thanks to the board and Gordon Brown(yes i do understand you meant a different dividend)

[Guest]

That's very brave to admit that your wife is a demon.

[Leicester_Numan]

I know it's a pain in the backside having to do extra work due to someone else's incompetence or laziness but your best bet is to do it and tell your boss that the person responsible needs replacing. There are plenty of us that would be grateful to have a job and would do it properly. Your boss needs to start the disciplinary warning process and see if that gets the person responsible to buck up their ideas. If it doesn't, get rid. It's best for you not to refuse to help as you could be the one being replaced in the end. Forget about what it says in contracts, refusing your bosses requests is never a good idea, it's also never a good idea to blindly go along with them. Do it, but point out the other persons laziness or incompetence

[cambridgefox]

That's very brave to admit that your wife is a demon.

Believe you me it took all my courage to admit it!!

Poor girl works so hard. 11pm last night and probably does until 10pm, 3 nights a week.They are the face of the bank that get all the flak,constant threat of redundancies,overworked and continuous pressure from those decision makers from above who are overpaid and have no or little experience of what goes on in the branches and do not care/realise that when they make redundancies others have to step in to take the workload.Anyone thinking about this as a career dont!!

[Captain...]

If you have time during your shift to do it, then just do it or make inroads and record how much time you have spent on it and report to your supervisor/boss how many hours you have spent of your shift doing someone else's job, but don't sacrifice what your paid to do to do someone else's job and don't work extra hours unpaid.

Contracts work both ways, and you have rights, you have contracted working hours and you cannot be made to work more hours than that without pay to do a job you are not contracted to do, you can be asked to, but you have the right to refuse.

If you were behind on your job and were being asked to work unpaid overtime, then that is more understandable.

[Thracian]

My work is trying to get me and 3 other night colleagus to do some extra filing that is part of somebody elses job. There is getting on for 6 months worth of it there now and the person in question is making no attempt to do it even though they have been responsible for doing it for over 10 years now.

It is the second time this has happened. The first time we were told that the person responsible (they do not even work in the same section) had been told that after our initial help needed to stay on top of it. As I have said they have not made a single attempt to do so since.

Now we have refused to help again as the person whose job it is is getting paid to do it. We would not receive any extra pay so is this legal for my workto insist we do it?

When I agree to work for someone I'm agreeing to work had and do my best for them. And if that's the job that needs doing, I'd try to do it with good grace and to the best of my ability. And if you're unhappy about it, work somewhere else or work for yourself. You'll sure have to do whatever's required if you choose the latter course.

[Head Honcho]

I manage a large store and to be honest I can ask my staff to do almost anything within the store. Almost everyone of them is happy to do so!

My question to you would be. If you have enough time in your working day to do this task. Then why would you refuse?

You're paid for the amount of time you spend in work, not the amount of work you do. If doing this extra task impacts on your current job then I could see there being some issues, otherwise I think your employers are within their rights.

I know how most large stores run so if you in box me who you work for I may be able to assist you a little better.

[davieG]

Do the job and point your bosses in the direction of this:

Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced plans to make it easier for firms to remove under-performing workers in return for a pay-off.

Using "settlement agreements" would allow more staff to agree to go without the need to go to employment tribunals.

The move comes amid disagreement between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats over proposals to make it easier to sack poor quality employees.

But a government source said the two ideas were "separate".

The UK has re-entered recession and the coalition says its priority is a return to growth, with current employment law cited as one of the restrictions on this.

The Lib Dem minister announced in Parliament that he intends to add a clause to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill to make it quicker and easier to use settlement agreements, allowing staff to leave the company in return for a payment.

This would act as an alternative to going to an employment tribunal, which can be costly and time-consuming, and, according to businesses, make bosses less inclined to hire new people.

More on it here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18393031

[1964FOX]

As others have said it can depend on your contract but fundamentally being asked to do the work of another employee because they are too lazy to do it is NOT a reasonable request. I would defineately be asking the management why the other person is refusing to do it. If it is clearly just because they can't be bothered then I would want an assurance that something would be done discipline wise before I was willing to help out.

To give you good advice, a lot more knowledge of the details about your role, the other persons role and the terms and conditions of your employment. Clearly if you ave a union rep or similar then get them to discuss it with the management.

I'm a union rep and will fight for anyones rights if the management are wrong but I have no time for lazy gits and have no issue with management getting rid of them. Most managers nowadays are very reasonable and will listen to your concerns if you put them forward in a positive way so the only real advice I can give with the limited information we have is talk to the management about this situation outlining your concerns and confirm you are happy to work hard but expect other employees to do so also.

[MooseBreath]

As an employee I doubt you've got much of a leg to stand on. You get paid to do what you are told. What other employees do isn't your concern. Unless you are having to work unpaid overtime then I would suggest just getting on with it. If I asked am employee to do some filing and he threatened legal action, once i'd stopped laughing I'd be showing him the door. Know your place.

[Guest]

once i'd stopped laughing I'd begetting up off the floor. Know your place.

[Guest Basildon Fox]

Just further to this. When we ended up having to do this the last time I emailed my boss to suggest if this is going to be a regular thing that we need to be doing this on a daily/weekly basis as we would not do it if we had 6 months work again. He replied we would never have to do it again as the person responsible had been given a bollocking and would be keeping on top of it. There are even boxes to go to storage that I prepared for this person which 6 months later are sitting in the storage room.

I have already taken on extra work with running reports, producing stats etc. My actual job is to take inbound calls for an Insurance company. I have not said no to them once since I joined the company and have tried to be as flexible as possible.

[Guest Basildon Fox]

When I agree to work for someone I'm agreeing to work had and do my best for them. And if that's the job that needs doing, I'd try to do it with good grace and to the best of my ability. And if you're unhappy about it, work somewhere else or work for yourself. You'll sure have to do whatever's required if you choose the latter course.

But if you were constantly told to do a job that somone else was getting paid to do for no extra money what would you say then? If everytime I went to a market stall and they had to sell to me at cost price. How do you think a market trader would react?

[Captain...]

Just further to this. When we ended up having to do this the last time I emailed my boss to suggest if this is going to be a regular thing that we need to be doing this on a daily/weekly basis as we would not do it if we had 6 months work again. He replied we would never have to do it again as the person responsible had been given a bollocking and would be keeping on top of it. There are even boxes to go to storage that I prepared for this person which 6 months later are sitting in the storage room.

I have already taken on extra work with running reports, producing stats etc. My actual job is to take inbound calls for an Insurance company. I have not said no to them once since I joined the company and have tried to be as flexible as possible.

A very fair point, that if it is going to be part of your job you will do it as you go along, and not 6 months worth at a time,

I still think the important questions are:

Will you need to work extra hours?

Will you get paid for the extra hours?

Will doing this extra work impact the job you are paid for?

If you have time in your shift to do some filing then legally you have no leg to stand on, if you are going to be neglecting the phones, or working extra hours to get it done, then you have a point.

Edit: Further to that the disciplinary action towards your colleague is not something to concern yourself with,that is not your job.

[Zingari]

I’m sick and tired of doing other folks work who are to damn lazy to get of their backsides or are just too disorganised and lack any planning.

Only the other day I had to make myself some breakfast and a cup of coffee and iron a shirt because the missus had gone off and forget to do it before she left out for work.

[Smudge]

I’m sick and tired of doing other folks work who are to damn lazy to get of their backsides or are just too disorganised and lack any planning.

Only the other day I had to make myself some breakfast and a cup of coffee and iron a shirt because the missus had gone off and forget to do it before she left out for work.

Look at this way Zingers, women are basically not good for your health. My hunka hunka burning love fooked off to Paris last Thursday and I have lost 6 pounds since then.

Getting my own beer, walking the dog and emptying the dishwasher are all new experiences which I grasped with some reluctance. However, an aperitif is important to go with me mixed nuts at cocktail hour and running out of a cup, is not an option for the morning brew.

[Daggers]

...the missus had gone off and forget to do it before she left out for work.

But those streets aren't going to walk themselves.

[Babylon]

There are a lot of people out there who are highly skilled at getting away with doing the bare minimum.

I worked with someone once and we were meant to be doing identical jobs. The difference between us what that when a job came in I got straight on it and got it finished as soon as I possibly could. Where as he would sit on the job and say there was no rush because he had nothing else to do, so he had plenty of of time to get it done.

Once another job came in he'd start on what he already had and look busy, where as I'd already done my work and got lumbered with the new jobs coming in as I looked like I had nothing to do.

I got fed up in the end and took a list of jobs and who did them to my bosses, and it turned out over an 18 month period I had done 80% of the jobs coming in to the company. Yet we got equal pay etc.

When I agree to work for someone I'm agreeing to work had and do my best for them. And if that's the job that needs doing, I'd try to do it with good grace and to the best of my ability. And if you're unhappy about it, work somewhere else or work for yourself. You'll sure have to do whatever's required if you choose the latter course.

It's obviously not about him not wanting to help out, it's about having to do the work someone else has already been paid to do. For me there is a difference.

[Webbo]

This sort of thing happens in a lot of workplaces and while some people are (unwillingly) willing to cover for lazy bastards then management has no incentive to change anything. I suppose you have to do what your boss tells you but I'd make sure that they knew what you thought and keep on reminding them.

[Zingari]

But those streets aren't going to walk themselves.

She’s had to give that up now we’ve got those new bright street lights fitted .

Business just went downhill after that.

It was getting rather tiresome for me counting all that loose change, so it’s probably for the best anyway.

[Rincewind]

I recently did an office skills course and they said the most important thing was the success of the company as it affected everyone.

Say you were asked to post some letters on the way home and you refused as it 'was not your job' those letters could contain invoices which if not posted would mean the clients may be paying late then your wages could be late.

I can see where the OP is coming from though. I would make a note of the extra work and keep a record. Tell the boss you are going to do this and quite willing to do the extra work if he will act on the records you have taken down and if he still feels your grievance is invalid then fair enough but still keep records for a later date. He may realise in the long run that it is unfair on you and your colleages.