# A Common Work Dynamic By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-06-03 Work consists of many pitfalls. The following illustrates a common work dynamic. One has a defined work routine. Management wants an additional task accomplished and offers to pay employees extra to do this task. It is voluntary. Some will do this extra work to make a little extra money. Over time, management decides that they will no longer pay extra for this extra work. Instead, they will incorporate this work into one’s work routine as an additional duty. One still must do the additional work, but now, one will no longer receive a premium. What is one to do in such a situation? The intelligent thing to do is to do the work and not make a production about the additional work. This is what management wants, and one is often rewarded for conforming to management expectations and desires. If one protests, one will likely be labeled a “troublemaker” as having a “bad attitude.” Perhaps they will say one “fails to exhibit the desired company spirit.” The consequences could be immediate or might take time to unfold. However, if one decides to take a stand on this issue, one will eventually face some organizational consequences. Companies get around this by making position descriptions vague or including some provision related to “and includes additional duties as assigned.” This way, the organization can assign additional work with no additional compensation and say that one agreed to it in one’s terms of employment. This is legally accurate. However, it is unjust. People signing work contracts are often desperate. They need a job and will agree to almost anything to get one. Interestingly, contracts are often legally invalid if they were agreed upon under “undue duress.” Such situations are typically limited to coercion, threats, false statements, or improper persuasion. Not surprisingly, the legal definition used to enforce employment contracts completely ignores the significant and real duress associated with underlying employment relations. Most people are not in positions to effectively negotiate the terms of their employment. As such, one can take them or leave them. This take-it-or-leave-it assessment assumes that leaving it is a viable option. In reality, one pretty much has to take it. Such a precarious position from which to agree upon the terms of one’s employment seems fraught with inherent duress. It shouldn’t be surprising that the most ubiquitous form of employment duress is omitted from the provisions that would nullify the contract. Those who advance organizationally are typically those who most readily accept this reality, do all additional assignments gladly, and find even more unassigned tasks to do to please those in positions of authority. This will likely get one promoted. It does little to provide the worker with a sense of dignity. It does nothing to protect those even more precarious in their employment situations.   #### Related Items [[Work]] [[Management]] [[Success]] [[Legal]] [[Routine]] [[Assessments]] [[Radicals]] [[Duress]]