If you have yours, that's great! But it's also true that love for your work doesn't pay the rent.
 | By Susannah Meadows Senior Staff Editor, Opinion |
Have you ever thought that you love your job so much you would do it for free? |
Of course you haven't. But if your job is considered something of a dream job — working in the arts, say, or being a writer or a chef — your employer may very well be making that tacit assumption about you. |
We don't normally think of people with "great" jobs as being treated poorly, especially compared with people working in positions with the lowest wages. But creative, mission-driven and prestigious jobs often take advantage of the love people have for them, Stolzoff writes. |
"According to one 2020 study employers see poor treatment of workers — such as expecting overtime work without pay or asking people to do demeaning tasks that aren't part of their job descriptions — as more acceptable if the workers are thought to be passionate about what they do," Stolzoff writes. |
So the next time you're feeling lucky to have your job or are thinking that perhaps you shouldn't ask for a raise because you should simply be grateful to get to do the work you do, remember that even a job you like is still a job. It's an economic contract. And since love can't pay the rent, it's not suitable compensation for the work you do. |
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