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I'm an intern at a social services non-profit. My boss, being a non-native English speaker, asked me to edit some of his papers for grammar. They're for a class that he's taking and concern social services, but not the particular organization I'm working for.

I was glad to do it, since I felt as if I wasn't being particularly useful otherwise, but I'm not sure if it was appropriate for him to ask, since as far as I know, it wasn't related to the organization.

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  • Is your boss is the owner of the company too? Answers might differ according to your answer for this question. Aug 16, 2019 at 5:52

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It's usually inappropriate to use company resources (including your time as an intern) for personal benefit. It's certainly not your responsibility to police how your manager assigns work, but the example you give is unusual and questionable.

Even if your manager's academic enrollment is sponsored by your employer, it's usually expected that class work be completed on personal time.

If you're finding yourself with lots of free time, perhaps check with some other colleagues to see if they need help on any efforts or have ideas for things you could pursue, and bring those ideas to your manager as things you could work on.

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    "Even if your manager's academic enrollment is sponsored by your employer, it's usually expected that class work be completed on personal time." Usually. I would personally reiterate that it highly depends on the organization. Aug 15, 2019 at 14:07
  • +1 - only because of what Robert added. Aug 15, 2019 at 14:16
  • +1 for the suggestion on how to deal with "felt as I wasn't being particularly useful". You can always offer to do freelance jobs on your spare time on a discount rate. If you boss really needs a proof reader and is not only getting you to do it "for free" on company time, he will most likely accept the offer. Aug 15, 2019 at 15:22

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