Is this fair treatment at work?

Question

I am a freelancer and have been at my job for a few weeks. I do not receive benefits, paid holidays, vacation or sick leave, and I do not have guaranteed hours.

I don't even have a permanent employee ID or parking permit, and I share a workspace with 3 other people.

But as soon as I started, I was put on the kitchen clean-up list! This means that every once in a while I have to clean the entire kitchen, which gets digusting because people are slobs.

It doesn't seem fair that I have none of the benefits of being a permanent employee, yet I'm expected to have the cleaning duties. Am I wrong?

I have a Master's degree, extensive experience and work in a highly specialized field. Frankly, I'm shocked that any of us has to clean the kitchen.

I do not work through a temp agency. I'm a FREELANCER not a temp.

Answer 1

no! Everything else you just explained is completly legal, you may just ask your supervisor, im freelance, and technically self-employeed, why do i need to do your employee duties? And if he doesn't like it, either put up with it until something better comes along or find a new job! But honestly thats not uncommon, but you don't have to sweep or mop the entire office, isn't the kitch also the janitors job?

Answer 2

Do you use the kitchen at all? We've had kitchen cleanup duty at every job I've been at in two different countries, I don't think there's anything weird about that, but when there's anything that only a few people use (and especially something that gets more dirty than the rest, like at my current job only two or three people regularly use the stove but they tend to make a big mess out of it too!) then you could say, I'll clean the kitchen but the stove should really be done by x, y and z 'cause no one else ever uses it. Only if you never ever enter the place could you really say you shouldn't be on the list.

Answer 3

Are you the only contractor who was put on the kitchen clean-up list? If not, then all I can say is that it is too bad.

Life isn't fair, but if you don't like the added responsibilities that come with the job, then you should find employment elsewhere.

EDIT:

I said "contractor" not "temp" as there is a difference. I also hold a master's degree, and I've help clean kitchens at jobs where I have contracted. I worked freelance/contract for five years.

Answer 4

No you are not wrong. You are either an employee or you are not. I am assuming these other people clean the kitchen on company time. How about you? Will you be paid for the time you are cleaning the kitchen?

I am assuming that when it is time to collect for gifts for someones maternity leave, wedding, etc. you will be asked to contribute whether you know the person or not.

Sounds as if you have a bad deal.

Answer 5

If by freelancer you mean you work through a temp agency, then you should already know that you get few or none of the benefits of working full time unless you get hired on after three months. It is fair because your actual employer is the agency for which you work, and they can either offer you some incentives or just the pay for the time you're at work. There is no real obligation from the company to which you're assigned because technically you don't work for them. If you want equal opportunities at a workplace, try applying directly to the company next time.

Answer 6

It may not be fair, and it may not be what you intended to work on when you took the job. But it is a common business practice.

Sometimes there are "tasks" that nobody at work likes to do. So when managers hire someone new, unless they were hired into a upper-position, the new person may be assigned that task.

Whether or not it is fair - how many other staff members are on this rotating kitchen-duty? Are you being paid for the time when you are doing kitchen duty?

And if the manager did not rotate the clean-up task, do you think the kitchen would be cleaner or even dirtier?

I'm a retired (age 55) supervisor. I used to work with computers. On a weekly schedule, I would have to send someone to go to another computer center and pick up some tapes of data and bring them back to our computer center. I did not want to have to get approval for a company car, mileage and parking fees reimbursement - each and every week. So I would rotate the assignment among my staff, let them leave early with instructions to "have it here by morning".

One employee complained that they had not been hired to do this and they should not be using their car. The rest of the staff understood that it only took a few minutes to stop and pick the tapes up - and were glad to get out of the office early. I did monitor what time they could leave - they each got an extra hour off from work. Most employees considered this as a nice perk. All except that one employee. I was rotating who went, so each employee could have an hour off.

ARE YOU BEING TEST ON YOUR ABILITY TO TAKE ANY ASSIGNMENT ?
When my wife took a job at a federal court, they assigned her to clean-up and organize the stock room of office supplies. She didn't like doing this - it was beneath her job title. We purchased a software program to create inventory forms and we organized the supplies by categories and items. And when things needed to be re-purchased - on Friday nights, after I picked her up from work we would drive to the office supply store, buy what was needed and then go to a nice dinner. After a few months, Management was so impressed by how well things were working they re-assigned the management of the stock room to someone else. Citing my wife's ability to analyize and organize things, they gave her another assignment on something even more "messed up". On this one, she did the initial analysis and I reviewed her work and made suggestions. When that was completed, they gave her another similar assigment. At the end of the year, when it was performance review time - they cited her outstanding ability to be flexible and organize things - and she got a bonus of several hundred dollars. I got a free dinner from her.

Answer 7

Unfortunately, being a freelancer puts you in the uncomfortable position of a "take it or leave it" situation, which really stinks (no pun intended) in this particular instance. I think that you are correct in your feelings about the lack of inclusion on certain aspects of employment there, and yet an inclusion into the aspects that require that you put forth more that what a job description refers to. I would say something, but be ready to pack your bags in case the company views your honest feelings as a sign of disrespect.

Answer 8

Nothing is fair in love and war, but this may not apply to your job. Call the labor board in your city and find out if they are abiding by the law. Check to see if they have to offer the same benefits to all employees and what the differences are with freelance workers. They should be happy to assist you.

Answer 9

Yes, you need to clean like everyone else, if you are using the kitchen facilities for anything. Even if you go out to eat, but if you wash your hands in the kitchen or put things in the frige. If you use the kitchen at all and there is a cleaning list then everyone should participate even the supervisors.

Answer 10

i might like equivalent. If I had childrens i might like my better half to have the skill to take day without work to guard them too. additionally employers discriminate against women human beings of youngster bearing age because of the fact the way maternity regulations are on the 2nd they are worried she'll merely get pregnant and take a twelve months off. This would not ensue if the two men and ladies human beings have been entitled to the comparable day without work. On conventional women human beings could stay longer yet i do no longer think of it rather is honest for them to artwork an added 3 years. the two men and ladies human beings could desire to have the skill to savor retirement, no longer in basic terms be entitled to it while they are knackered. maybe in basic terms the stay at abode mums stay longer besides? :-) i think of it rather is impossible to choose what's a honest result for each guy or woman. Our lives are so distinctive.