How to stop people from taking advantage of you at work?

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PuzzlePieces1
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03 Sep 2016, 7:51 am

Due to my AS, I have trouble saying no to people when they ask me to do things and this sometimes causes me problems at work. I end up with people tricking me into doing their work for them. They also take advantage of me by paying me less for work than other people, merely because I don't know any better. I recently found out that I'm earning about 1/3 of what other people get for my current job.

How do I handle this kind of situation? I am very poor at confronting people and I'm afraid they will discover my diagnosis and fire me for putting up a fuss about it.



BTDT
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03 Sep 2016, 11:25 am

You might consider finding work somewhere else--a lot of people would consider relocating if they could triple their pay.

OTOH, being paid less will often shield you from being laid off.

Sometimes the higher earnings are well justified--a manager gets paid much more because her job is more difficult--it isn't easy to fire people who can't do their job. The higher paid job may have responsibilities that you don't have. In some jobs, it may be possible for a highly skilled worker to do several times more work than someone who is just average--and better work at that.



Chronos
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06 Sep 2016, 9:51 pm

PuzzlePieces1 wrote:
Due to my AS, I have trouble saying no to people when they ask me to do things and this sometimes causes me problems at work. I end up with people tricking me into doing their work for them. They also take advantage of me by paying me less for work than other people, merely because I don't know any better. I recently found out that I'm earning about 1/3 of what other people get for my current job.

How do I handle this kind of situation? I am very poor at confronting people and I'm afraid they will discover my diagnosis and fire me for putting up a fuss about it.


When someone asks you if you can do something for them, and you say yes even when it puts an unrealistic workload on you, they are innocent in the matter. People....even NTs can't read minds, and it's your responsibility to be honest with them, if they request you perform a task, and it will interfere with your primary responsibilities, or is an unreasonable burden on you.

If someone asks you to do something that proves too burdensome for you to do, and don't have a responsibility to do, tell them "Sorry but I'm working on some other things right now and don't have the time."

Concerning your pay, make a list of all the things you do that others don't do, and when you ask for a raise and they ask you why you think you deserve one, use the list to illustrate why you are worth more to the company than they are paying you. Be polite, of course.

Also, if you are in the US, they don't know your diagnosis unless you have told them, and can't fire you for it...at least not explicitly. They also cannot fire you for asking for a raise.