To people immersed in toxic work culture mentality I probably seem petty. They’d say “go above and beyond and you might get a promotion”. But I absolutely detest the feeling of being exploited in work. Whether it’s being asked to do unpaid overtime (when it’d bring you below minimum wage), or engage in work requiring higher skill/responsibility than your pay & job title etc.
I actually don’t mind my job, it’s not what I want to do long term, it’s essentially a career break as I have some health issues, an administrative position to keep me in the swing of things while I make a long term decision about whether I can actually handle my actual career. I work at a university so most people are very values based. Usually when people ask me to do something it’s reasonable and I’ll jump to it. I’ve never complained. Lately more responsibilities have started falling to me, some a bit harder but I feel they still fit within my job role, the experience/skill I’m paid for, and I have the time.
Recently though I was given a task of uploading some stuff onto the website. Those who wrote them are much higher paid than me, researchers rather than regular staff, and paid for their skill, not their experience. So I uploaded the work as asked to by the comms manager, but then she complains to me about various errors, saying I need to proof read these articles and do edits, while also chasing people up for things that are missing. This work would be pretty time consuming and not in my remit as far as I’m aware. It’s not that I can’t do this in practice, but I do not feel comfortable as an admin assistant editing someone else’s work, nor do I care to read their work as it has no relevance to me or my interests. I don’t believe it is my responsibility to do the job of a research several paygrades above me. The comms manager agrees it’s annoying but basically sees it as easier just to edit it and get it up. But she is paid more than those submitting the work, and she is paid for the skillset to edit this work.
I usually have a good relationship with her, but I don’t want to set a precedent that it’s ok just to throw over work people can’t be bothered with onto me. It’s ok to throw admin at me, but not expect me to do their job. I’ve seen other women in my team saying yes to too much and they’re burnt out & underpaid. I think my answer is I need to speak with my line manager and have a values based discussion to ask if he has an opinion of whether this should fall onto me. But I still worry about rocking the boat or seeming difficult/lazy.
For now I just closed my laptop and have given up for the day.