At the Fantastic General Store, we have a clause in all hiring announcements that says, as part of an employee’s job duties, “other duties as assigned.” This clause can be a minor inconvenience, or in stores with retention issues, too low of staff, or just poor management, it can be a real pain. People don’t like cleaning up after someone’s pet dragon had an accident, and they like it even less when it’s not a normal part of their job duties. Before assigning just anyone to a task they don’t normally do, managers should ask themselves the following questions: is this employee actually available to do the task? Odds are decently high they have their own work to do. Have you asked their manager if you can borrow them? Is this employee actually trained to do this job? And no, I don’t mean having been shown once. That isn’t adequate training. You can’t expect an employee to handle the supposedly magical sword or the space laser, and have it end well, if they haven’t been thoroughly trained. If the answer is no to any of these questions, move on. You need to find another solution. In my opinion the employee is well within their right to say, not my job if these circumstances apply.