Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
1) Being treated equally: no she's not, because he's not asking anybody else in the office to do it. Only her.
2) "That makes it her obligation to notify the employer". She did. She already told us that she's repeatedly told him. And he keeps asking.
I think if you take an office job with no stated expectation of being able to lift a certain amount, you have every right to complain when heavy lifting suddenly becomes part of the job. Yeah, I'm also a petite woman who has done jobs that required lifting - but in every case, that was made clear before I took the job. You don't take a warehouse job expecting that you might be asked to write up a grant proposal...
OP, if you're getting the feeling that there's something deliberate about all of this, boss may be encouraging you to quit. But you'll be doing that soon anyway. So absolutely don't aggravate your shoulder injury to appease the old fart.
1) she is the assistant... he asked her to assist in setting up chairs and moving boxes. She never said what the other people's jobs are, IE they may not be assistants, she could be the only one...
2) she may not have been clear, if she just said "my shoulder hurts, i can't move the boxes", doesn't imply that it is a permanent disability and not a temporary thing that goes away next week
Did I miss the OP telling the boss she can't move the box? I used to be 105 at 5 feet and listen 50 lb boxes all the time. Looking at me you would think I can't do it. Don't make assumptions.
1) Being treated equally: no she's not, because he's not asking anybody else in the office to do it. Only her.
In a small company, your job is what the owner says it is. That day. May be different tomorrow.
Quote:
2) "That makes it her obligation to notify the employer". She did. She already told us that she's repeatedly told him. And he keeps asking.
Notification is directly, on paper to be sure, but it must be clear and direct or he might not have been paying the necessary attention.
Quote:
I think if you take an office job with no stated expectation of being able to lift a certain amount, you have every right to complain when heavy lifting suddenly becomes part of the job. Yeah, I'm also a petite woman who has done jobs that required lifting - but in every case, that was made clear before I took the job. You don't take a warehouse job expecting that you might be asked to write up a grant proposal...
Unless specifically stated otherwise, in a small company the job is what the owner says it is. That day.
Quote:
OP, if you're getting the feeling that there's something deliberate about all of this, boss may be encouraging you to quit. But you'll be doing that soon anyway. So absolutely don't aggravate your shoulder injury to appease the old fart.
And this may also be true.
OP, I'd recommend skipping the vacation and looking for a new job instead.
Tell him in writing that you can't do the physical work without injury or risk of injury. And yes, get a new job.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maryjane1888
I work in a small office as an admin assistant. My boss/supervisor is the owner of the company so I can't complain about this to anyone else. There's no HR.
My boss keeps asking me to assemble these huge office chairs and move heavy boxes around. I have a shoulder injury and was told by a doctor to refrain from heavy lifting. I've gone to physical therapy for this for months at a time and my boss knows this.
I even told him I can't be moving the boxes. I looked at the side of one... It weighs 48 pounds! I'm a 5"2 girl who weighs about 110 pounds. Even if I didn't have a shoulder injury I would have a lot of trouble lifting this.
I've been putting it off, and just yesterday he brought it up again. He asked if I remembered the chairs implying I should go screw with them. I wasn't in the mood to have the same discussion, so I said "I remember."
Wtf is going on here? He's basically begging for an on the job injury or workers comp case...? I don't get it. How do I make him stop? I've told him numerous times I can't be dragging 50 pound boxes around and lifting heavy pieces out of them. I signed up for a desk job, and nowhere in the description did it say anything about being able to lift a certain amount of weight.
I'm kind of baffled at this point. I'm probably just going to wait for him to bring it up again and tell him I'm unable to do this and I'll get a doctors note if necessary. I just don't understand why he keeps pressing it. I think it's kind of pathetic for a grown man to be asking a tiny girl to be doing this, especially when the office is full of men.
1) Being treated equally: no she's not, because he's not asking anybody else in the office to do it. Only her.
2) "That makes it her obligation to notify the employer". She did. She already told us that she's repeatedly told him. And he keeps asking.
I think if you take an office job with no stated expectation of being able to lift a certain amount, you have every right to complain when heavy lifting suddenly becomes part of the job. Yeah, I'm also a petite woman who has done jobs that required lifting - but in every case, that was made clear before I took the job. You don't take a warehouse job expecting that you might be asked to write up a grant proposal...
OP, if you're getting the feeling that there's something deliberate about all of this, boss may be encouraging you to quit. But you'll be doing that soon anyway. So absolutely don't aggravate your shoulder injury to appease the old fart.
Thank you. Yeah, I'm definitely not going to even attempt to do this. I think he's probably trying to encourage me to quit, because he's done other little things like this too. And to the person who said something about fetching coffee: I've been asked to do that many times before. I question the integrity of a man who asks the same person to fetch their coffee and assemble their furniture.
Tell him it is too heavy for you and that you don't have the strength. If he insists, once again tell him about your shoulder injury and explain you can't do it. You are making it worse on yourself by putting it off. I can't believe your boss is so oblivious to the fact that you are a small woman, and may not have the physical ability to lug boxes around.
I work in a small office as an admin assistant. My boss/supervisor is the owner of the company so I can't complain about this to anyone else. There's no HR.
My boss keeps asking me to assemble these huge office chairs and move heavy boxes around. I have a shoulder injury and was told by a doctor to refrain from heavy lifting. I've gone to physical therapy for this for months at a time and my boss knows this.
I even told him I can't be moving the boxes. I looked at the side of one... It weighs 48 pounds! I'm a 5"2 girl who weighs about 110 pounds. Even if I didn't have a shoulder injury I would have a lot of trouble lifting this.
I've been putting it off, and just yesterday he brought it up again. He asked if I remembered the chairs implying I should go screw with them. I wasn't in the mood to have the same discussion, so I said "I remember."
Wtf is going on here? He's basically begging for an on the job injury or workers comp case...? I don't get it. How do I make him stop? I've told him numerous times I can't be dragging 50 pound boxes around and lifting heavy pieces out of them. I signed up for a desk job, and nowhere in the description did it say anything about being able to lift a certain amount of weight.
I'm kind of baffled at this point. I'm probably just going to wait for him to bring it up again and tell him I'm unable to do this and I'll get a doctors note if necessary. I just don't understand why he keeps pressing it. I think it's kind of pathetic for a grown man to be asking a tiny girl to be doing this, especially when the office is full of men.
Everyone has "other duties as assigned" as part of their job description. It is up to the manager/owner to decide what those duties are, not the employee. Unless these are unusual circumstances, putting a chair together is not that difficult. As has been mentioned here, you don't actually have to lift it. You can cut the box and assemble it lying on its side if necessary. Moving "heavy" boxes (i.e. copy paper) can easily be done with a dolly. Women do these tasks all the time. Sounds like the real issue is that you have a definition of what you think is "women's" work and what is "men's" work. You WANT him to assign work according to your gender stereotypes and he isn't.
There may be guys working there, but you never identified their role. There may be a legitimate reason why he is assigning you those duties and not them. You didn't share that part. Once again, it is his choice as to who (and how) he assigns work. That's one of those little perks you get when you're the one signing the paychecks.
Now, IF you have a legitimate medical condition that prevents you from performing the assigned work, you can ask for a reasonable accommodation. That would require you providing a note from your doctor describing the extent of your limitations. He would then be REQUIRED to accommodate your ability to do your job, unless doing so would constitute an undue hardship. Absent that direct notification, you don't have a leg to stand on.
Here is my #1 clue that there is more going on than you are letting on (or that you have limited work/life experience). Your solution is to put up with the situation until you go on vacation, then find another job. why not address the situation now, so both you and he can come up with a workable solution? This one is not that hard to resolve, but it is going to take communication - and you may have to give up some of your ideas about how you think the world should work.
Stop being so passive-aggressive about it and tell him per doctor's orders you can't lift over ___ pounds. Get a doctor's note. All you are doing is postponing the inevitable blowup. Go to him before he comes back to you. Because then, he might just be firing you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Emigrations
If she doesn't do it, even with a doctor's note, she's probably likely to be fired as it is. Best to start looking for another job.
Which is pathetic - because it is actually the BOSS who is being passive-aggressive (someone needs to look up the definition!). The OP is trying to be nice without getting all formal about it but since the boss won't listen, she may have to. And then the boss will use that as a reason to fire her, even though I'll bet the job description said "other duties as assigned" but mentioned nothing about lifting up to a certain weight. So it's good you're looking for another job OP - but get the note if needed - it may buy you a little time at least.
Um, that's not the same thing at all? Anyone can get coffee, it's not physically challenging. However, not everyone can perform physical labor and lift heavy things. This is why even places such as wal mart list "must be able to lift ___ pounds" and subsequently why I applied to this job. Because there were no lifting requirements.
You're right. BUT, you made the comment that the "men" could do the lifting. Isn't that sexist? Not all men can lift a lot of weight, and a lot of women can.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
