DEAR MISS MANNERS: I work for a public college, and my boss is the top of the division. Once I was employed, my duties included supervising his government assistant, however she was laid off in 2020. My title is just not administration-related.
My downside stems from being assigned duties that I perceive have been usually requested of administrative assistants in years previous, however which ought to not be required of the position in fashionable instances (for my part). Nevertheless, maybe I'm mistaken on the place the road is at present drawn between enterprise and private duties.
These are issues like ordering flowers for a colleague of my boss who has suffered a loss; sending a card or meals on his behalf to the household; ordering and choosing up meals as his contribution to an workplace potluck; sending a fruit basket to a colleague of his who was ailing, and many others. I don’t normally know the particular person he's asking me to purchase these things for, and have no idea their dietary wants or preferences. And writing a card of sympathy for somebody I don’t know feels icky.
Even earlier than his government assistant was laid off, I used to be usually requested to do this stuff. I think about the requests to be inappropriate and private in nature, not business-related. They're issues he might ask his partner for assist with, if he actually couldn’t do it himself (which he might, he simply doesn’t need to). He's paying for this stuff together with his personal funds and they're from him immediately, not the college or the division.
These duties weren't talked about within the job description for which I used to be employed and, frankly, really feel sexist in nature: He isn't asking any of his male staff for assist in these areas.
Am I overreacting to being requested to do this stuff, or do I've a authentic grievance? Is there something I can say to politely convey that these requests make me uncomfortable?
I'm involved that if I object, I'll put myself on my boss’s unhealthy aspect and will endure some retaliation. Should I simply grin and bear it?
GENTLE READER: Completely not. However neither does Miss Manners suggest opening a combat based mostly on gender, as correct as that evaluation could also be, if you would possibly make your case by being skilled — the place he was not — and presenting the info.
Ask for a gathering and inform him that you're confused by the parameters of your employment: “I appear to be spending lots of time on duties that don't pertain to my work. I don't keep in mind that as being listed in its necessities, and I really want to focus alone university-related work. Maybe you possibly can ask HR if there's room within the finances to rent you a private assistant.”
The whiff of an HR menace needs to be enough in your boss to acknowledge that he doesn't want to contain them — and that it could subsequently be simpler for him to select up his personal dang dry-cleaning.
Please ship your inquiries to Miss Manners at her web site, www.missmanners.com; to her electronic mail, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or via postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas Metropolis, MO 64106.