germany academia research
Is PI legally allowed to require their PhD student/Post-docs to pick up their kids from school?
<p>Assuming that I'm a PhD student/Post-doc, what kind of tasks are the principal investigator(PI) - i.e the group leader - legally allowed to ask me to perform?</p>
<p>For example, is s/he legally allowed to ask me to pick up her/his kids from school? If so, what can s/he do if I refuse?</p>
<p>The exact answer might depend on the details of my contract but you can assume a typical PhD/post-doc in a university/research institute. I also welcome examples from other European countries other than Germany.</p>
<p>I would appreciate if you could support your answers with the relevant law.</p>

<p><em>Asking</em> as such is hardly ever illegal. Any stranger can ask you to pick up their kids from school, like you always can tell them where to go.</p>
<p>What I guess you are actually asking is whether the PI can <em>require</em> you to do it. No they probably cannot: it would have nothing to do with the matter of your contract or nature of your professional relationship with them.</p>
<p>However, if they are in the position of power, they will have discretion in making decisions that will affect you. Whereas you legally can tell them where to get off, it might be good idea to attempt some interpersonal workplace tactics first.</p>

<h1>The Black and White</h1>
<p>In the USA -- and I imagine in most places -- employees are only contract-bound to carry out the terms of their contract. If you are not contracted to do a certain task, then you are not legally obligated to do that thing as part of your job.</p>
<p><strong>In short: it depends on the terms of the contract.</strong></p>
<h1>The Gray</h1>
<p>Of course, no contract outlines every single task a supervisor could ask an employee to do. Discretion is required of all parties.</p>
<p>It is relatively normal for coworkers to occasionally ask for personal favors from each other, such as trading a work shift or helping out with a task at work so another person can leave early. This is a normal part of teamwork, and many places have developed a culture of mutual generosity between coworkers. <em>Must</em> you cover for a coworker's shift? No, but if you do, you build goodwill between you and them, and perhaps you will earn the right to ask for a personal favor in the future.</p>
<p>If a PI is asking a grad <em>teaching</em> assistant (hired to help with a class) to do things related to the PI's <em>research</em>, it's generally frowned upon. It may be acceptable in some circumstances and not in others.</p>
<p>All of this is further complicated by the power dynamics between advisors and grads/postdocs, who depend on their mentors for letters of recommendation. Grads and postdocs may want to help out to garner additional favor.</p>
<h1>Two Examples</h1>
<p>My own contract to be a graduate teaching assistant (GTAs) for a major US university in 2016 specifies certain (university-wide) requirements and says that departments may impose additional requirements if they don't conflict with the main requirements. It says GTAs may be assigned a faculty supervisor who they report to and who will mentor them as necessary. GTAs were to &quot;complete all duties and responsibilities assigned to them by the appointing department(s)&quot; — <em>departments</em>, not <em>supervisors</em>. I couldn't find any document limiting the cope of those tasks, but it's hard to imagine <em>all</em> tasks would be required. There were documents describing the code of conduct and giving tips about how to navigate power imbalances.</p>
<p>Part of the terms for a postdoctoral scholar position at my university (buried in a referenced document, not the actual contract) included the following (emphasis added):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Duties and responsibilities of a postdoctoral scholar shall consist of
those assigned by the president or the president’s designee, who
may be the principal investigator or supervising faculty member. All duties and responsibilities shall be carried out under the direction of
the president or the president’s designee. <strong>Duties and
responsibilities shall be related to the expertise and competence of
the postdoctoral scholar.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, the tasks that the PI assigns the postdoc must be related to their job and cannot include personal requests like picking up kids from school. However, the PI could ask the postdoc to write grants that are related to the postdoc's expertise and competence. <strong>I <em>imagine</em> similar language exists for similar contracts, but one would need to carefully study a given contract to be sure.</strong></p>
<h1>How to Get Help</h1>
<p>If you or someone you know has issues with their advisor asking them to do things they don't think are obligatory or ethical, you might point them towards their university ombudsperson program for some investigation. They can determine for that situation whether the requests are legally obligatory. Many universities offer several other levels of mediation, including free legal counsel, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies to protect employees at all levels, and other similar resources.</p>

<p>As the other answers have pointed out, you may be able to refuse to perform tasks not specified in your contract. However this will vary with jurisdiction, and most employment contracts are fairly vague and include catch-all terms along the lines of &quot;the employee is expected to perform all tasks requested by their line manager&quot;.</p>
<p><strong>However</strong>, your PI is ultimately not the person employing you. You are employed by the university or institute, and your salary is either paid for out of their funds or by an external grant. They are paying you to perform research and related tasks as a PhD student or post-doc, not to be a childminder or personal assistant. <strong>If your PI attempts to force you to work on unrelated personal tasks, they may be breaking their own employment agreement or violating the terms of their contracts with external funders.</strong></p>
<p>If you require clarification on whether your PI is allowed to request a particular task from you, the best authority would be whoever has oversight of your PI's employment. This could be a head of department, HR partner, head of graduate studies or similar.</p>
