“Not in your job description”? Give me a break! What kind of whiny, entitled person are you? You were hired to be one of two employees at a small business and it is somehow a surprise that you had to keep the place clean in addition to your “salesperson” title? ‘ God forbid the owners want a clean store. Should they have hired out a custodian or two to keep you happy? Maybe pulled in a carpet cleaner to pick up the brownie bits? And this “work for free” – would that have been the cleaning or did they actually not pay you for hours that you should have been paid for? I hate to break it to you but cleaning a toilet while on your shift is not “working for free” it’s YOUR JOB, regardless of the sanctity of your “salesperson” title.

Small businesses HAVE to be frugal in order to survive – especially a “fair trade” boutique which caters to a small crowd. If you can’t understand that then maybe you were the problem, not the job.

I bet angryMarch either was OP’s employer, or is currently using the same tactics as the employer to save money on wages.

Neither, but nice try. Just someone who is sick of entitled people thinking that they only have to do the minimum. Just someone who is sick of entitled people whining that they have to clean a toilet. Just someone who is sick of jobs that people willingly do every day, labeled a “very worst job” merely because they had to get their hands dirty.

And what kind of “tactics” here are so horrible? Please, sort them out for us! The only thing I saw was a glorified cashier mad because she had to clean a toilet.

This isn’t like taking a janitorial position and being grossed out by the realities, sales people don’t usually scrub the toilets.

I had a job where toilet scrubbing was on the list and we usually made the newest hire do it, our form of hazing. Eventually we got a manager who would just roll up her sleeves and do it herself without asking anyone else too, we loved her.

We also had bosses like the ones described here, they’d show up late, leave early, but have a snit if you didn’t show up before your shift for no extra pay.

Wow, you are angry. I don’t think it’s “entitled” to be mad that you’re constantly expected to run an entire store when you’re being paid only to be a salesperson – and then getting yelled at because you’re not giving 100% to all 6 different jobs you’re expected to do at once. If they had told her at the start she’d be doing all that, or if she had been working there two years and they gave her additional responsibilities, that would be one thing; but she had just started and they sprung all this stuff on her. That’s a bait and switch, not an expected part of the job. And yeah, I think she might have been happier if they’d hired a janitor, since that’s someone’s specific job. If you’re going to read entitlement into everyone who complains about a bad employer on here, then you should probably stop reading this site before you blow a gasket.

I guess the perceived entitlement ran from the self-titled “salesperson” when in reality all it looks like was she was a clerk in a mom and pop store. By focusing on her “salesperson”hood, she came across as above such mundane things as cleaning a toilet or picking stuff off the floor. My anger, more smoke than fire, is born from the “it’s not my job” attitude I get from clerks in stores, who – no doubt – hold such equally important titles as “salesperson,” “assistant to the manager” “assistant to the general sales manager” and anything else that looks good on a resume, but in reality are nothing more than a warm body that knows how to operate a cash register.

And, @hellcat – from my reading it’s not like they piled on the responsibilities on her, but that is based on my subjective interpretation of how big this “small business” was. How much area needed mopping, sweeping and “wiping down”? How much trash needed to be taken out? A salesperson (I’ll grant her the title) needs to have a clean sales area, does she not? What’s wrong with doing that herself?

I never worked sales, but did work it’s ugly step-sister – fast food. My “Sandwich Artist” title implied nothing about cleaning the toilet and mopping the floor, yet there i was, night after night. And, even that job had its moments where I had to clean gum off the floor or clean the drink machine or place an order or do something that wasn’t part of the mythical “job description” yet I managed through them anyway, as did everyone else.

That also brings up an important distinction. Are “job descriptions” the minimum one has to do to stay hired, or the maximum one is responsible for doing? I feel it’s somewhere in the middle and my anger came from someone who, I felt, believed it was the latter.

Agreed, hellcat. 100%. Angry has a point about entitled brats who don’t want to get their hands dirty, but this is not the case. The overloaded worker was tired of doing every job plus some.

I have worked in retail for 6 years and NEVER had a job where I wasn’t expected to do some amount of general cleaning duties. This includes sweeping, taking the trash out, mopping, wiping things down, dusting. It’s part of the job. Cleaning the toilet MAY be a bit much though.

@ Angry – “A salesperson (I’ll grant her the title)”

You don’t GRANT her the title, it WAS her title. Christ, who’s the entitled baby in this thread again?

Huh?March 31st, 2010 at 11:19 am “I had a job where toilet scrubbing was on the list and we usually made the newest hire do it, our form of hazing. Eventually we got a manager who would just roll up her sleeves and do it herself without asking anyone else too, we loved her.”

@Huh then later asked “who’s the entitled baby in this thread again?”

I dunno, Huh…it kind of sounds like you were.

I think Angry got off on a rant on cleaning and ignored the big problem with this job and then the rest of you followed behind him or her snipping at the heels (including myself). The big problem sounds like the bosses themselves. OP, you get no sympathy from me in that you cleaned or had to pick up stuff out of the carpet. But, the stuff the owners tried to pull with the commission bit is classic bad boss bullshit. I’ve worked jobs where standards were set to get a bonus and then you meet the standards and suddenly you’re faced a change in policy. So, you work your butt off and chase that carrot and avoid that stick and then, just as you’re about to take bite of that crunchy orange root you get it snagged out of your reach once again. It’s no fun and it sounds like they were trying the same.

@tronner

I’m entitled because I had an amazing boss? Wha?

*nomming on popcorn*

i really wish people all over the internet would stop misusing the word ‘entitled’. LOOK IT UP. IT DOESN’T MEAN WHAT YOU THINK.

I have never…ever…EVER had a retail job that didn’t involve cleaning. Does the OP think that every shop can just hire a custodian? Most store front businesses can’t. If there is a public restroom…that’s included in cleaning too. There is a reason why retail sucks…duh!

Short of lifting over 50lbs and dealing with hazardous materials, anything that needs to be done in that business is something that you can be asked to do. Either you have to do it, or the owners have to do it. No one is above these jobs. Sweeping, moping, vacuuming, trash, and bathroom have always been part of opening and closing duties and they always will be.

If they’re going to freak out because there were too many sales for you to get your cleaning work done…then let them freak out. Don’t let it bother you. But if you’re the kind of worker who cops attitude when asked to do a job you think is beneath you, and has to be nagged about every little thing beyond standing behind the counter, then I don’t blame them.

Most of the duties listed here are routine to sales. My one bone to pick with the shop owners is trying to weasel out of paying commission on the$80 paintings. To not pay what is promised is wrong. Plus retail typically pays a very low wage so the $16 commission could mean eating better that week, or a tank of gas (well, half a tank these days).

I worked as a salesperson in retail for three years. I rang up purchases, stocked items, vacuumed, cleaned the bathrooms, dusted, etc. However, I wasn’t there all by myself. Anybody who hires someone without providing opportunities for breaks is not only being an asshole, but is also violating the law.