In that moment, something shifted—not rage, but clarity. If the company wanted to undervalue me, fine. But they were about to feel the weight of everything they’d been taking for granted. I smiled and said, “Of course—I’d be happy to help her get up to speed.” My boss relaxed, thinking I was folding like always. He had no idea what was coming.
The Stacks of Paper
The next morning, he walked into the training room and froze. On the table were two stacks of paper:
- Official Job Duties: a slim pile listing only the tasks formally assigned to my role.
- Tasks Performed Voluntarily: a stack three times taller, documenting every extra responsibility I had taken on—crises solved, processes streamlined, late-night fixes, vendor conflicts resolved—the invisible labor keeping the department running.
Training, Redefined
From that moment on, I trained her strictly by the book. No shortcuts, no undocumented processes, no tricks I’d developed over years of unpaid overtime. Just the bare minimum duties they were actually paying for.Continue reading…
