Should I do volunteer work because my boss wants me to?
About a month ago, the boss asked me rather nicely to do 1 day of unpaid (of course) volunteer work for an event coming up. I gave an neutral non-committal answer. He told me to think about it. As the event looms closer, the management has been specifically seeking me out to get me to commit to that event. Once I revealed to my co-workers that I didn’t plan to volunteer, they totally flipped. “You have to do it! You don’t want to get the management’s bad side!” Blah, blah, blah.
One of the reasons I said no was that I’ve seen photos of past volunteering done at the boss’ request. I couldn’t help but notice that my co-workers were volunteering wearing the company uniform. I’m pretty abject to representing my place of employment off the clock, especially if it involves improving the public image of a 40 billion dollar company for free. Maybe a silly gripe.
My main gripe is that I feel as long as I’m not breaking the law, my free time is none of their business, and it’s presumptuous for them to continue to press this issue with me. I already do volunteer work on my own time, why should I do more just to make management look good?
But. Maybe I’m being a dick here. Before I flat out decline, I’m gonna consult the dopers. It’s only one day of work. And I would make good with the management. Is going worth it? Is declining worth it? Should I be worried about getting on the management’s bad side? Should I even be griping at all? What would be the best way to decline? What say you dopers?
I’d tell them that you’ve got a friend or relative in from out of town (somewhere far away) that day, and you’re already comitted to activities with that person then.
Otherwise, I agree with you: What you do in your free time is none of your work’s business, and if they ain’t paying, you ain’t working…
I agree as well. If the company are really supporting and sponsoring something out there in the community, they should be paying their staff for work during the event, or giving them some other kind of incentive, like time in lieu.
What you’re describing, TPRg, is crappy behaviour on the part of your management. Don’t do it.
It depends. There are a couple of factors here. If you’ve pinned your career hopes on this company, and if it’s a cause that you support anyway, it may be worthwhile to do it if it benefits both the cause and your career. Plus, when you get involved, you can encourage the company to remember that particular cause even when the cameras aren’t there, which both helps the cause out *and * raises your visibility with management.
On the other hand, I **do ** think it’s presumptuous for your company to infringe on your free time. It’s a trend I particularly deplore, actually. I already spend more time with my boss than my kid, and I deeply resent any work-related functions that fall outside of working hours, even if they’re allegedly “fun”, let alone if it’s just unpaid work.
So… if there’s significant benefit to you or a cause you care about, then do it. If not, then don’t feel badly for a second if you don’t. Leisure time is precious, and I never forget that when it comes to work, the more you give, the more they ask.
If you think you’d enjoy the work, then join up happily. Otherwise, tell them to forget it. The idea that a company can impose non-voluntary volunteerism on its employees is typical of the arrogance that big corporations show towards their workers these days.
If you don’t want to do it, don’t. But be frank about it. Your error (I think) was in being wishy-washy about it in the first place. Just say no. If it were me, I would say something like, “I prefer to keep my charitable work and my charitable donations private.”
Do you work for Walmart? Your story just reminded me of some shit I went through when I worked there.
But yeah, I’d say don’t do it. It doesn’t sound like charity work (i.e. soup kitchen type) to me; it sounds like you’re being used as an unpaid laborer. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) If it’s something you think you’d enjoy anyway (like feeding baby animals) then do it, but if it’s just a hassle (like sitting at a registration table at a conference watching the big bosses wipe their asses with fifties), then totally don’t. Unless you want to move up in the company, and then this could be a real feather in your cap. But who wants to move up in a company that would exploit their workforce like this? And this really gives you the “doormat” label.
But I wouldn’t say “I don’t want to do it.” Take the above poster’s advice and fake a last minute wedding/birthday party/bat mitzvah.
Volunteer for things YOU want to do, not what others want you to do. You’ll get more enjoyment from it, and won’t feel like you’re being used to further someone else’s goal, just your own.
That’s impossible to answer without knowing your professional status, the nature of your job, and your personal preference respecting career advancement versus free time. In some fields, extra hours are expected–nay, demanded–if you want to achieve promotion and the huge salaries that come with it. Big law and accounting firms routinely expect their partners and wanna-be partners to put in gobs of hours “representing the firm” at community and charitable events.
On the other hand, if you’re a nine-to-fiver whose family and/or outside interests come first, and you’re content with the job you already have, you’d be a fool to give up a weekend just because the boss is working a volunteer gig. If your employer expects this even of low-level employees who aren’t bucking for advancement, then find another employer.
**Freddy **pretty much summed up what I was going to say, so I see no reason to repeat it in too much detail.
I will volunteer for some things to advance my career - or because I want to. If you understand the trade-offs - and I think **Freddy **did a nice job outlining them, you should make the decision that best suits your personal goals.
My husband works for a City as a firetruck mechanic. The City participates in the “Make A Difference Day” activities. Of the six years he’s been there, he was asked to participate in one. He did, it was apparently mandatory, but he got paid. He didn’t like that he was being forced into a long Saturday cleaning other people’s yards and stuff. Not altruistic, my hub. That’s okay by me.
They’ve not made it mandatory any longer so hub doesn’t go. He doesn’t really like his coworkers much, so he feels that he goes to work, does it well, and gets to come home with a paycheck.
We donate household items to charities all the time. I’ve never had a garage sale, so when I want something new the old “whatever”, if it works and is clean, gets donated to a charity working with developmentally disabled children and adults. It comes out to well over $500 annually.
Oh…OP…
Unless there is extreme pressure to attend, I would certainly make some sort of excuse to get out of it. Forced attendance at a company endeavor without being paid is mean. Can’t somebody tell these idiots that free time is exactly that, free time?
I don’t think you need to give any excuse (and making excuses sometimes encourages people to try to help you out of them!) - simply say, “I’m not available that day.” They don’t need to know that you have a busy day of lying around in your underwear watching cartoons planned.
And I don’t think people should give up their free time for their job unless they’ve got a damned good reason to do so. Like others have said, I have my own charities and volunteer work that I do for my own reasons. Donating so the company gets a big tax write-off is not on my agenda. This would actually be a deal-breaker for me working with a company - I would quit over being forced to donate or volunteer, I feel so strongly about this kind of tactic.
