this is long & hard to explain..but if any1 can advise me please do so thanks

[Sam116]

Ive been in my job for 4months now (frist 3 months was trial basis) i found out i was pregnant 3 weeks into my new job baby no1

While i was on my 3months i was asked by my boss to go to Camden parking office to get his WIFE's parking permit for home. Our office is in West Kensington. I went, on my way their i thought i dont work for his wife & what he had me doing was not work related or what we agreed in the interview.
When i got back i confronted him he said if he asks me to go do something he expects me 2 do it. This includes going to get his sandwiches making tea & coffee 4 him and his brother (which r parnters) and anyhthing the boys (2 other employees) ask me 2 do. (which can also not b work related) he says i must do what he asks between the hours of 9:30am-5:30pm.

when my 3months was up i asked 4 a contract and job description he said they dont do cause they are very small.

I found one of the boys contracts and said if hes got 1 i want 1 so he said he'll right me a letter. OK....2day he comes around to writing this letter & for duties hes said general office, visiting properties and he used the word 'GOFAR' ie i must do anything he says, he decided to say it infront of the whole office which consists of 6 people and every1 was discussing what to put instead of 'gofar' then he put 'collecting and taking documents'.

So after lunch i confronted me again and he said if this was going to be a problem their is no job here 4 me. hes not payin me more, he apollogised for not letting me know this when i started and he gave me the choose to walk or stay.

cant tell any1 bcoz every1 thinks hes alright.

Im 19 and never heard or come across anything like this in my life. i would leave but cant afford to leave, with bills,baby on the way & car 2 maintain.

Is there anything i can do?

sorry no i dont.@ nightowl

im going to try keep it until baby comes then look 4 sumthing then. it just feels like extra unnecessary pressure, and im just not used to it. In all the office jobs ive done ive never felt so degraded and unhappy, i think a big part of it is the respect thing they just have no respect for the girls but the boys....its a different story afternoon games of tennis with 1 another firdays off, mobile phone bills paid bcoz they have to work outside the office, (i work outside the office and dont get mobile paid)

i could just go on and on about this place its just seems unbelieveable to me. i would expect this type of job 4 and school leaver or sum1 with no qualifications.

i know. it seems really unfair and horrible at times but i dont think there is any law against it. just maybe put up with it for a while and move on. you shouldnt be treated like that! what do the other girls have to do?

just to add that after i had "graduated" from being office junior i was still expected to do the rubbish while my new "office junior" wouldnt even pick up a box of paper to prevent my huge preggas self from falling over it!! 8 years down the pan.

you know, ive just looked at my post and thought my use of the term "office junior" could look a bit offensive!! i dont mean it in that way, more in the way that you are young, and new and that is possibly how they see you at present. could you maybe ring acas for advice? could you look for another job if you are really that unhappy? i dont think there is any law that people cant employ pregnant women but i know quite a few employers would find some other excuse not to give you a job but true. i think you need to find out about it before you do anything sudden?

no offence taken

Im going to see what the outcome is tomarrow and stay till i have baby. While im on maternity ill try find something else

Thanks very much ladies 4 ur Help & Advice

thanks nightowl

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask you to get sandwiches, make tea and coffee etc. I think most people have had jobs like this in their late teens - I know I did. And if you didn't do these things, they would just have to employ someone else who would (didn't they used to call this sort of job a "Girl Friday" or an "Office Junior"?).

In my second job in a small office, I basically had to turn my hand to anything - switchboard/reception, photocopying/typing, accounts stuff, taking cars for service (including the boss's Porsche ). I also had to make tea and coffee for everyone and get sandwiches.

I also think if you show willing and not a sulky face you're likely to get more out of the job and out of your employer. Whatever you are asked to do, it is giving you experience and is something you can put on your CV. I'd rather employ someone who had done all round office work for a few months (and had stuck at it) than someone who had lasted in a few weeks and left because she got the hump at doing something she saw as not job-related.

Oh, and in my current job, my boss gets my sandwich, tea, picks up my dry cleaning and I do the same for her. Be flexible...

Tanzie, I agree.

I started my first full time job as a graduate, andd was officially employed to do book-keeping (accounts assistant), but there were 5 people in the firm, and I was expected to do everything, filing, collecting sandwiches, answer the phone, even vacuum the office ocasionally, if we had potential clients coming round.

I was there for 3 years. half way thru' I negotiated a pay-rise, but the MD took away my overtime pay, so I think I was worse off. BUT the point i'm making is that it was tremendously good experience for me. I left to work in admin for a new start-up company, on 3 times my original salary and a company car, just because I had learned so much being the office 'dogs-body'.

Yes, at the time I disliked it, and thought my MD was a 'very unpleasant man' (new MN language rules adhered to). But looking back it was good experience, and I wouldn't be who I am today without it.

Sam116: Regarding the interruptions / random tasks, you might want to start stacking / prioritising their requests ie. if something is madly urgent for a client / money is on the line you carry out an activity straight away, if it's something that could wait a while you can explain that you're on xyz task (that they've already given you) and that you'll do it as soon as this is done etc. You may also find that by being friendly / polite / smiley but assertive, they will be somewhat caught off guard / bit more wary and perhaps not take the pi** so often.

But TBH, it doesn't sound like you are happy there, and perhaps looking around (like now) for another job - perhaps with a larger business with a contract / job description etc. would be good ? (It isn't illegal to employ a pregnant woman, and it isn't a legal requirement to inform them of your pregnancy - at least not in the ealy stages. Maybe someome with employment law experience can give a cut off date which I imagine is something around 25+ weeks).

Easy, I agree with you too! Although when you are 19, you think you know it all, what do you actually bring to a job? Maybe some basic qualifications, but not a lot in the way of experience. And if you're the most junior person in the pecking order, then I'm sorry, but you do get given the dross. That's the way life is. And I think any other office job (esp one in a small office where people do muck in more) is likely to be the same.

Sam, if you don't like it, leave and look for something else. But do be aware that with your age and limited experience, you are likely (unless you are very lucky indeed) to find that your next job is not too dissimilar. All the best for the baby.

I agree with Easy and Tanzie - your boss is your boss, they're paying you. You do your hours, but within your hours you basically do what they ask of you (within reason). Especially when you're working for a small owner-run company, they need someone to delegate simple tasks to, so they can concentrate on the income-generating activity.

It doesn't matter whether those tasks are the filing or fetching lunch, checking their bank balance or booking holidays ... I've done all sorts in my time in offices, and much much more! Turning round and saying "it's not in my job description" doesn't help anyone.

And a catch-all job like this can look great on a CV with a bit of window dressing.