Dear Bob ...My wife works at a plant nursery, the boss often has tea with friends. The boss now tells my wife that part of her job is to clean the kitchen after the private tea. My wife feels that an adult should clean up after herself instead of sometimes leaving a mess for 2 days until my wife comes back to work after her days off. Can she be forced to clean the office kitchen?- AdvocateDear Advocate ... Dear Bob …My wife works at a plant nursery, the boss often has tea with friends. The boss now tells my wife that part of her job is to clean the kitchen after the private tea. My wife feels that an adult should clean up after herself instead of sometimes leaving a mess for 2 days until my wife comes back to work after her days off. Can she be forced to clean the office kitchen?– Advocate Dear Advocate …Can she be forced to clean the kitchen? No. Is it within her employer’s rights to redefine her position to include cleaning the kitchen? Probably.You don’t say what your wife’s job title is. If she’s Director of IS, I’d say this is quite inappropriate and she’d be better off finding another position. If, on the other hand, she’s an administrative assistant, then this sort of thing isn’t uncommon, although I’d agree that adults ought to be able to wash out a cup as a better choice than letting things sit in the sink for several days. Regardless, if your wife doesn’t like having this responsibility, her choices are simple and I’d advise her to pick one of them. She can: (1) Suffer in silence; (2) tell her employer about her dissatisfaction, living with whatever results; (3) tell her employer she isn’t willing to accept this responsibility, living with whatever results; or (4) don’t bother telling her employer and just leave.Actually, there is a (5): Glower and grumble without saying anything, but since you introduced the notion of adulthood into the conversation, I’d say that’s out of the question.– Bob Technology Industry