Message #47206

[uberpa]

When I had two bosses just a little while ago one would ask me to do things like arrange to have his car fixed or check how many frequent flyer miles he had.  Though not business related I didn't see them as overly personal but I did draw the line when he wanted me to stand in line to get tickets for ballet for him.

If I can do it from my desk in a reasonable amount of time I am not that bothered but it makes too much use of my time or company resources then I will complain.

In the past I've had jobs were I worked directly for the owner so they would often overstep the line with personal errands or tasks I tried very hard not to get volunteered to do personal things I would have refused to get dry cleaning, walk a dog or pick someone's child up from school but I have gotten someone's prescription or written their personal checques for personal bills.  It's a fine line deciding what is acceptable and what isn't.

It's helpful if you can get it writing as part of a job descrip or contract but most employers probably won't want to do this.  I think the important things is to find your line and draw it and don't waiver.  They shouldn't be allowed to fire you for not running personal errands unless it is specifically your job.  I find the more corporate the setting (at least so far) the less of this goes on as it's seen as a waste of company time, money and resources and if a PA were to complain you could look very bad for making her do personal errands.

Working for very small, single propreiter companies can be an issue in my experience as the boss sees the business and their personal life wrapped up together and may find it hard to distinguish what is really best for business when it comes to personal errands.

Some people think they can't say no to personal errands but I think if you turn it back on the requester by saying "is this really best use of company time, money and resources?" or "I don't feel comfortable running errands as personal as this"

Again my personal motto is as long as it can be done from my desk and does encroach on MY personal time or breaks and doesn't use up precious time for doing real work then I may consider it.  If it's something I don't want to get involved in then I just say no.