Boss keeps bringing in his home pc and asking the IT staff to fix it.



  • My boss (who is also the owner) likes to bring in his computers from home when they get a virus and have the IT staff fix it. I really dislike this since he could easily do it in seconds, and they aren't company machines or machines used in conducting company business. My boss has a laptop that he does all of his work on, and that I expect the IT staff to handle. 

    Most recently however, he brought in his girlfriend's computer, which wasn't even broken, and asked us if we could speed it up. 

    I want to literally tell him to take his girlfriends computer and shove it up his ass. I'm extremely pissed he would even ask us to do that. When I came on board this company, I had a contract that explicitly described my job duties, although I am comfortable going outside of those within reason. The other two guys, who are younger and less experienced, did not have such a thing. Their employment agreement was a handshake. In their situation I can see how they could get fired for not complying and be without legal recourse. 

    How do I tell my boss to stop treating the IT staff as their personal IT slaves?


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    How many people above the boss in the hierarchy?



  •  1 or none depending on which one you ask.



  • Don't forget that he's the one signing your paycheques, so he's the dictator.  You didn't think that companies were a democracy, did you? :)

    In either case, we have a few options:

    1. Treat it like a marriage/laundry analogy.  Do such a horrible job on the computer that he no longer brings them in.  Dangerous to your job depending on how inept he is
    2. Pawn it off on the younger guys
    3. Just ignore it.  If he asks, then confirm with him if his gf's computer is more important than office work.  If it is, see #1 or #2 


  • I always pawn it off to the younger guys, but I feel bad for them. Also, they have work to do that it's taking away from. What I think I'll do is if he keeps pestering us about it (for now we're ignoring the request) I'll have the youngest completely wipe it and put a linux distro on the machine.



  • @GoatCheez said:

    if he keeps pestering us about it (for now we're ignoring the request) I'll have the youngest completely wipe it and put a linux distro on the machine.
     

    I approve of your asshole style.



  • 1. When getting your hands on his machine install even more spyware/viruses/malware on it.
    2. Return the PC and tell him there was very little you could do, and he really needs to upgrade
    3. inform him that you have a business on the side and you can cheaply get him some new hardware for a low price.
    4. profit.

    But I might have messed up the meme.



  • Find his girlfriend's naked pictures in one of their home PC's and upload them to 4chan. Don't forget to add their contact info.



  • So let me get this right...  The boss owns the company.  He gives you money to do what he says.  If you don't want the money I suppose you can always quit.  Otherwise, suck it up and get back to work I think.



  • @tster said:

    So let me get this right...  The boss owns the company.  He gives you money to do what he says.  If you don't want the money I suppose you can always quit.  Otherwise, suck it up and get back to work I think.

    Sir yes sir!

    Wimp. There is no fucking way I'd be cleaning my boss (and owner) home PC. Much less her husband's.
    There are many smart ways to not do this while avoiding confrontation.

    A few months ago my team was asked to build a personal website for some relative of hers. I handed her a project plan, with timeline, requirements and costs just like with any other client or project. As soon as she found out how much it will cost, the website ended up being a 15 minute work on a Facebbok landing page. Which I gladly did for her, because I like my boss.

    I know it's not always this easy, but your advice is lame and discouraging. Your view of employment is that it's worse than prostitution.
    "I pay you, now suck!". But even prostitutes have limit on what they'll do, and most of them actually have more dignity than what your comment proposes.

    But some people were born to follow orders, and suck it up. I guess you like sucking.

    Unless you are a boss/owner, which will make you just a complete douche



  • @tster said:

    So let me get this right...  The boss owns the company.  He gives you money to do what he says.  If you don't want the money I suppose you can always quit.  Otherwise, suck it up and get back to work I think.

     

    Fortunately, the last place I worked I could ward off any of those "personal work" things by asking whether funding had been approved and what cost center I should charge my time to.



  • @tster said:

    So let me get this right...  The boss owns the company.  He gives you money to do what he says.  If you don't want the money I suppose you can always quit.  Otherwise, suck it up and get back to work I think.

    The boss owns the company, not you. (erm... in fact your boss seems to actually own you, cheap ass, but that's your fail, don't imagine everyone is as slavish as you are... )



  • @tster said:

    So let me get this right...  The boss owns the company.  He gives you money to do what he says.  If you don't want the money I suppose you can always quit.  Otherwise, suck it up and get back to work I think.

    So, if your boss were to tell you to go to his house and mow his lawn you would do it?



  •  You know, um, I don't really think tster actually meant "U R SLAVE", and all these replies are a little over the top.



  • @dhromed said:

     You know, um, I don't really think tster actually meant "U R SLAVE", and all these replies are a little over the top.

    You are right. He never implied slavery. After all, slavery means no payment and no way to get out of that status.

    His statement was more like "U R a HO. WANT YOUR MONIES? KEEP SUCKING OR GTFO ".



  • @fatdog said:

    His statement was more like "lof lof lof"
     

    Oh fooey. Tster is always angry. I don't really take his words personally.



  • @dhromed said:

    @fatdog said:

    His statement was more like "lof lof lof"
     

    Oh fooey. Tster is always angry. I don't really take his words personally.

    lof? is this an onomatopoeia of some kind of angry animal barking in dutch?



  • I happen to agree with tster. It's his choice to have the company and employ you, just as it's your choice to work there. No guns to anybody's heads, just a free market with people willing to step in where required.



  • @dabean said:

    I happen to agree with tster. It's his choice to have the company and employ you, just as it's your choice to work there. No guns to anybody's heads, just a free market with people willing to step in where required.

    Yes, black and white.

    Take it or leave it. What? Don't like that I hired you as a programmer and now I have you serving me coffee? Get a new job. It's a free market after all.

    But, sometimes lifes situations are not black and white (sick kid, mortages, career plan). You don't have to call the unions and start a strike. But there are ways to deal with this kind of crap without bending over and losing your dignity sucking up your bosses dick, or quitting a job that you might need to survive.

    You need the job, they need you. No one is doing you any favours. A job is simply a contract. Terms of a contract can be negotiated before going all radical and quitting. After all this is not a McDondalds burger flipper position.

    In this post everyone was pointing out ways to "negotiate" or avoid doing unreasonable chores expected by one party of the contract.

    Then the angry man came and said: "OMG SUCK IT UP BITCH",

    And some of us went "DUDE, DON'T BE A BITCH, STAND UP FOR YOURSELF. BE SMARTER THAN THAT

    And then the dutch dude came and said: "ANGRY DUDE IS KIND OF RIGHT AND YOU ARE ALL OVERREACTING

    and then you came with "LOL LUZR CALL THE WHAAAMBULANCE AND QUIT YOU COMMUNIST BASTARD"

    And then I wondered, "Why do I bother?", but remembered it's a good way to procrastinate doing some of the reasonable chores I'm expected to complete in my work contract with the capitalist pigs I have for bosses



  •  Yeah, I actually have an employment agreement. That's why I told my boss "No, I'm putting my foot down. I am not doing it and that's my final answer." He then said "I guess I'll just get one of the other guys to do it." They do not have employment agreements. Our youngest ended up doing it. Of course, I'm sure this'll all happen again in another month or so.


  • :belt_onion:

    @fatdog said:

    And then I wondered, "Why do I bother?", but remembered it's a good way to procrastinate doing some of the reasonable chores I'm expected to complete in my work contract with the capitalist pigs I have for bosses

    Filed under: <FONT color=#698d73>Eat the rich capitalist pig</FONT> 

    Eating the rich capitalist pigs won't stop the revolution



  • @bjolling said:

    ]Eating the rich capitalist pigs won't stop the revolution

    Oh, but it will make it so more tasty



  • @fatdog said:

    You need the job, they need you. No one is doing you any favours. A job is simply a contract. Terms of a contract can be negotiated before going all radical and quitting.
    Just my thoughts.

    Filed under: Commie bastards
    Yes ? Where am I needed ?



  • Wow, some of these comments are crazy.  But here is the deal.

     If my boss says, "I will pay you $70,000 every year if you program computer for me".

     Then I say, "OK, deal."

    Then the boss says, "The situation has changed, I will pay continue paying you $70,000 every year to mow my lawn."

    I would either say "OK, it's worth it." or I would say "No, I quit".   But the point is that it's his choice to pay me and my choice to do the work.

    Then if he said  "The situation has changed, I will pay continue paying you $70,000 every year to suck on my penis."

    I would say "Great, I would do it for free, but if you want to pay me that is like a bonus" "no"



  • @tster said:

    I would say "Great, I would do it for free, but if you want to pay me that is like a bonus" "no"
     

    DODGED A BULLET THERE!



  • @tster said:

    Wow, some of these comments are crazy.  But here is the deal.

     If my boss says, "I will pay you $70,000 every year if you program computer for me".

     Then I say, "OK, deal."

    Then the boss says, "The situation has changed, I will pay continue paying you $70,000 every year to mow my lawn."

    I would either say "OK, it's worth it." or I would say "No, I quit".   But the point is that it's his choice to pay me and my choice to do the work.

    Then if he said  "The situation has changed, I will pay continue paying you $70,000 every year to suck on my penis."

    I would say "Great, I would do it for free, but if you want to pay me that is like a bonus" "no"

    Those are some amazing negotiation skills you got there.

    Wanna do business with me?



  • @tster said:

    Wow, some of these comments are crazy.  But here is the deal.

     If my boss says, "I will pay you $70,000 every year if you program computer for me".

     Then I say, "OK, deal."

    Then the boss says, "The situation has changed, I will pay continue paying you $70,000 every year to mow my lawn."

    I would either say "OK, it's worth it." or I would say "No, I quit".   But the point is that it's his choice to pay me and my choice to do the work.

    Then if he said  "The situation has changed, I will pay continue paying you $70,000 every year to suck on my penis."

    I would say "Great, I would do it for free, but if you want to pay me that is like a bonus" "no"

     

     

    are you secretly like 12 years old or something?



  • @tster said:

    Then the boss says, "The situation has changed, I will pay continue paying you $70,000 every year to mow my lawn."

    I would either say "OK, it's worth it." or I would say "No, I quit".   But the point is that it's his choice to pay me and my choice to do the work.

     

    So what people are trying to tell you is that there might be a third option: you could tell him "No, but I don't quit either". Obviously, there are several ways to say this differently: "I think wasting my programming skills on your lawn is neither good for your lawn or my career so let's find a different solution" but the bottom line is that depending on the labor laws in your specific Location.getLocation(), it's not like the boss has total control. There are two parties involved in the contract, you are one of them, and you have a say in the matter.

    In fact, in some countries, employers will argue that their employees are better protected by labor laws then they are.

    On the other hand, in any kind of long term relationship, be it work or love or otherwise, you want a situation where you know that in conflicts of interest, you can work out a mutual solution. If your SignificantOther tells you [insert sth you hate here] and it appears there is no discussion possible, that pretty much ends the relationship, contract or not. Same with a boss (or employee for that matter) who blatantly disregards your interests, it doesn't really matter how many contracts you have backed by no matter how many laws, that pretty much ends your chance of reaching your retirement there - unless you can explain that to him/her in a normal way.

    So back to the original situation. Boss saying "do this thing which is only tangentially connected to your normal work".

    a) you say "SHUT UP BITCH THAT'S NOT MY JOB": bad. Long term relationship ended as far as boss is concerned.

    b) boss says "SHUT UP BITCH I TELL YOU IT IS": bad. Long term relationship ended as far as you are concerned (I hope)

    c) somewhere in between: potential. Long term relationship might even benefit if you do this well. *)

    *) everyone will solve this according to culture/character/etc. I would try to show that I'm flexible but this is also outside normalwork, etc.



  • @b-redeker said:

    So back to the original situation. Boss saying "do this thing which is only tangentially connected to your normal work".

    Actually, in the original situation, the boss was asking an IT person to fix a computer which is exactly what their normal work is.



  • @tster said:

    @b-redeker said:

    So back to the original situation. Boss saying "do this thing which is only tangentially connected to your normal work".

    Actually, in the original situation, the boss was asking an IT person to fix a computer which is exactly what their normal work is.

    Not exactly. By saying "a computer" it would normally be implied that the computer belonged to the company and was use for business. Neither of those is true. This was his girlfriend's machine. It neither belonged to the company nor was used for business. It's not like his girlfriend is even near fiancee status either. He had just started dating her recently. If it was my boss' machine, even if it wasn't used for business, it would be different. This is really close to "hey, here's some random person's computer that I think you should fix".

    Also, if the business was doing well and we had extra time, I wouldn't be as opposed. The fact though is that the rest of the IT staff is STILL on reduced hour work-weeks, and no one has had a raise in over 2 years. The boss is driving the company into the ground by making us do USELESS stuff when we barely have enough time to keep the company rolling already.



  • @GoatCheez said:

    @tster said:
    Actually, in the original situation, the boss was asking an IT person to fix a computer which is exactly what their normal work is.

    Not exactly. By saying "a computer" it would normally be implied that the computer belonged to the company and was use for business. Neither of those is true. This was his girlfriend's machine. It neither belonged to the company nor was used for business. It's not like his girlfriend is even near fiancee status either. He had just started dating her recently. If it was my boss' machine, even if it wasn't used for business, it would be different. This is really close to "hey, here's some random person's computer that I think you should fix".

    Also, if the business was doing well and we had extra time, I wouldn't be as opposed. The fact though is that the rest of the IT staff is STILL on reduced hour work-weeks, and no one has had a raise in over 2 years. The boss is driving the company into the ground by making us do USELESS stuff when we barely have enough time to keep the company rolling already.

    +1



  • At the risk of ridicule and flames...



    In my experience, any job (no matter what it is) can be summed up in one sentence. "Make your boss happy."



    If you can successfully accomplish that goal, you will be successful in that position, and will have better bargaining power when you need a favor from your boss, or a promotion opportunity comes along. So my opinion is that unless the request is unethical, immoral, or will adversely impact your "normal" work, then err on the side of making your boss happy. If the request crosses any of those lines, then find a new job.



    Since you have mentioned that IT staff is on reduced hour work-weeks, be glad that your hours are not given to the more amenable employees.



  • @RaspenJho said:

    At the risk of ridicule and flames...



    In my experience, any job (no matter what it is) can be summed up in one sentence. "Make your boss happy."



    If you can successfully accomplish that goal, you will be successful in that position, and will have better bargaining power when you need a favor from your boss, or a promotion opportunity comes along. So my opinion is that unless the request is unethical, immoral, or will adversely impact your "normal" work, then err on the side of making your boss happy. If the request crosses any of those lines, then find a new job.



    Since you have mentioned that IT staff is on reduced hour work-weeks, be glad that your hours are not given to the more amenable employees.

    That's it? That's all what a job is?

    Just "Make my boss happy"?

    Crap! why didn't anyone told me that before? I could be a Boss by now!



  • That depends if you can get anyone to make you happy...

    And yes, that's all a job is.



  • @RaspenJho said:

    In my experience, any job (no matter what it is) can be summed up in one sentence. "Make your boss happy."
    Very interesting point indeed. So, how long did you work at Dysneyland ?

    Stand up, man.



  • Really? A 10,000 word dissertation on how to speak up for yourself?



    If you are unhappy, do something about it; work to change it; whatever. If you cannot do that while making your boss happy, then you are in the wrong place, and your efforts will fail anyway. Move. Find another place with a more compatible boss, or become your own boss. This constant whining about how I hate my job and somebody needs to help me change it is insane. Do it yourself.



    Your boss can be your best friend or your worst enemy. It is up to you to decide which is which, but you will rarely succeed in a job where your boss is your enemy. On the other hand, if you make a friend of your boss, you can usually be the biggest screw-off ever and still do well.


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