to ask you to do work on company time that isn't related whatsoever to the company? Specifically, to something in their personal life.

I'd say so, yeah.

I don't know if it's "illegal" per say, why would it be as long as they pay you for it and the work isn't illegal in and of itself?

At worst, the employer would get in trouble with their superiors, unless your employer owns the place, which would leave him free to do whatever he wants on company time.

Are you being paid for it?

Woo! Triple-simul-posting!

I am, but I'm a publications assistant, not a damn butler.

I frankly think someone has a lot of nerve asking someone they don't even know for personal favors.

I do know it's illegal if my employer threatens my job in any way for refusing to do personal favors. I just don't know if it goes back further than that as well.

They have a lot of nerve to ask you to be their b**ch, but you must have no balls to agree.

You signed a contract when you were hired.

Read it carefully.

Thats the only advice I can give you.

When I became an usher, the job description had a half-page of responsibilities, and then an all-inclusive "and whatever else the managers ask you to do" clause at the bottom.

It'd better be...

Actually, no I didn't. Except my tax forms. And possibly an internet useage form. And it doesn't matter what a contract would say anyway. A contract with illegal material in it invalidates the entire thing.

If nothing else, I know I have the right to refuse. Of course, I only learned that a day too late. If this is the only law on the matter, Ill just have to make sure I refuse in a particular way in the future. I have to do it indirectly, like asking what'll happen if I refuse. I'm sure she'll walk right into it. But maybe not.

I doubt it's illegal, but it's most likely against company policy.

Consider that, the ability to do whatever.

You never signed a contract. I can't even really explain how screwed up that is.

Well, she owns the "corporation," so I don't think policy matters.
There's quite a few things messed up in the company. It claims to be a corporation, but I don't think legally it is. As far as I know, they have no articles of incorporation, nor do they issue stock. Quality control within the company is horrible between departments. And OSHA would freak out if they saw our shop. (Unventilated paint booth, so all the fumes are in the same general area as, say... the welders. Safe, no? :p)

Blackmail is in order here.

A corp doesn't have to sell stock. They just have to file the appropriate paperwork with the government. If they have, they'll have documentation and a federal tax id #.

In this case, if "personal favors" was included in the contract, it wouldn't be illegal. Otherwise, it'd be against the law to hire a butler or personal assistant.

It's not illegal in any form or fashion UNLESS it's a breach of contract.

Which he doesn't have.

So like I said, do whatever.

Oh, and mild paint fumes aren't that dangerous, especially if they're arc welding.

Condensed paint fumes can be pretty dangerous though.

[QUOTE=Jedi Legend]In this case, if "personal favors" was included in the contract, it wouldn't be illegal. Otherwise, it'd be against the law to hire a butler or personal assistant.[/QUOTE]
You're taking things out of context, though.
[quote=DJ Yoshi]It's not illegal in any form or fashion UNLESS it's a breach of contract.[/quote]BUT you can't have illegal things in a contract.
We're talking about at least 10 gallons (iirc) of sprayed paint per machine (like these with no proper ventilation during cold weather. OSHA standards require proper ventillation at least.
A corporation is required to hold annual meetings of shareholders to elect a board of directors. It would be hard to have shareholders without shares. They are also required to distribute stocks/shares to the initial shareholders when the corporation first attains corporate status via articles of incorporation.

(Read here to find out more about how a corporation forms.)

Its not going to explode, was my point.

You might have some fun hanging out by the paint fumes though.

I guess it depends on what they've asked you to do.
As long as it's not getting you to do anything illegal, and as long as they don't get miffed if you don't complete your assigned jobs because you were doing their personal stuff, then I don't think there is a problem.

That made me giggle.

I think you're either fairly stupid, somewhat ignorant, or never took high school government.

Contracts may not include anything illegal--but something can become illegal if it's a breach of contract and ONLY for the people involved in the contract. That does invalidate the contract--because it becomes a breach of contract.

[QUOTE=Jedi Legend]In this case, if "personal favors" was included in the contract, it wouldn't be illegal. Otherwise, it'd be against the law to hire a butler or personal assistant.[/QUOTE]

Exactly what I was going to say. It's not illegal to ask people for personal favors

No. Corporations have to have stock. Depending on the type of corporation, though, it doesn't have to be offered to the public.

I don't think you quite understand what a corporation is.

There are two kinds of companies: The most basic type is a proprietorship, which would be something like a home business or any venture that you personally undertake. The other type is a corporation, which legally qualifies as a separate entity. A corporation has limited liability - that is, your personal status is protected if the corporation is bankrupted or defaults on a loan, and a corporation is not tied to an individual's estate.

Only publicly-traded companies are required to elect a board of directors to represent the investors. And not all companies that recieve investments are publicly-traded either, and not all investments are in exchange for ownership of a percentage of the company.

[quote=DJ Yoshi]Contracts may not include anything illegal--but something can become illegal if it's a breach of contract and ONLY for the people involved in the contract. That does invalidate the contract--because it becomes a breach of contract.[/quote]So how the **** does that contradict what I said? ***.

Wow, that would've made it difficult to pass my corporate accounting class, now wouldn't it? Maybe you could actually try clicking the link I posted next time.

Actually...no.

Actually, yes. You have to know legal corporate stuff.

You can pass a class without knowing a damn thing. I've known people with degrees in computer science and they don't know a damn thing about programming. I'm just saying...

There are S-Corporations and C-Corporations

Basically the S variant is a C corporation that elects its board of directors. If you really really want the nitty gritty on it, consult the IRS for the whole tax thing. The C and S refer to IRS tax codes on corporations.

It always comes down to taxes

Did you get 100% in that class? And how much of the class involved this "legal corporate stuff", and what's the technical term for that 'stuff'?

I'm not exactly that familiar with US law, but even I know this "all corporations are public" thing is total bunk. Under US law even churches are considered corporations but I'm reasonably certain you can't own shares in catholicism.

According to Merriam-Webster:


Doesn't say anything about investment structuring, shares, public trading, a board or anything else of that sort. How odd. I would think that would count as some of that legal corporate "stuff" but I guess I'm not a lawtician.

Wow, are you seriously dense?

There are no laws against personal favors. So it can be put into a contract. There are laws against things like murder, rape, etc, so they can't be put into a contract. Since you didn't sign a contract anyways, you're up **** creek without a paddle.

Ask for a pay rise. I mean, you're so helpful around the place... doing everything without moaning! I'd go for the pay rise...

[quote=DJ Yoshi]There are no laws against personal favors.[/quote] I NEVER SAID THERE WERE! I said that it's illegal for an employer to threaten my job for refusing to do personal favors. Quit taking things out of context, damnit. Alright, then: Who owns a corporation?

There's no laws against that either. If you didn't sign a contract. Unless you specifically show me a federal/state/municipal law against it, I maintain my position.

Oh and, just to answer your question, shareholders own a corporation. But they can be anywhere from one person, to the entire american public.

It's not illegal. You're an employee of the company. Unless it violates your contract you are not obligated to do anything. And even if it does, you might be considered an at-will employee which means you can be terminated for any reason.
Edit: If you didn't sign a contract you aren't even really employed, are you? No papers were signed that specify terms of employment, period of employment or anything else. You are the textbook definition of at-will.

Whoever owns stock in the company. If I went out and bought 100% of Google's shares, including those held by employees, I'd own Google. I'd be able to turn google.com into an online photo gallery of my pets and order Eric Schmidt to clean my house.
Your boss owns 100% of her company, I assume, which also means she owns 100% of the company's resources and has 100% say over how those resources are utilized.

The board of a company is elected to ensure the corporation is responsible to the investors. Major stock exchanges (like NYSE, NASDAQ, TSE, DOW, etc.) have separate policies in place as well, such as press and PR concerns.

The "boss" is the person who owns the most of the shares. Technically all I have to do is purchase 50%+1 shares of GOOG and I'd be able to turn google.com into a site about my pets and day-to-day activities.

I own my own LLC company. I buy Tax Deeds and then attempt to either collect on my investment or foreclose and take over the property. No body can EVER sue me for doing this. They can sue my company, but they can never sue me personally. To this end, all of my personal assets (house, cars, etc) are 100% protected from any type of suit resulting from my business practice. Also, no one can "buy" my company because it is NOT publically traded. If I had needed investors to start the corporation, it would have been a different story.

I can also safely say that I am the ONLY employee of that company. In saying that, there is a THIN line that you have to walk as a single-employee/single-owner corporation in order to keep the protection of the corporate identity seperate from your own. I suggest speaking with a business lawyer if you're interested in it futher. I also strongly recommend that you stop argueing this point because Jon'C is correct.

A limited liability company is more of a hybrid of a corporation and a partnership.
Unless the corporation doesn't distribute stock to people outside the company, shareholders do not have a direct say in how the corporation is being run. If you're majority shareholder, though, you could elect yourself into the company pretty easily.