Painter being forced to do remodel work

Question

I was hired 3 years ago by a local painting contractor. Recently my employer started remodeling his own house and this is where the work is taking place.

I am now being required to do the following tasks that have nothing to do with painting; siding, roofing, framing, building decks, drywall, interior trim including cabinetry and more.

I am experienced in these fields but was hired specifically as a painter.

My boss is not a general contractor, is only licensed and bonded to paint.

Is this legal? Can I say no? I was threatened with being fired for not wanting to perform these duties.

If the company is only licensed and bonded to paint, is it legal for them to perform this type of work, regardless of the location? I understand it is HIS home but he isn't doing the work, I am and I work for a painting company.

Answer 1

At-Will Employment has three major exceptions, one of which is the public policy exception:

Under the public-policy exception to employment at will, an employee is wrongfully discharged when the termination is against an explicit, well-established public policy of the State. For example, in most States, an employer cannot terminate an employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim after being injured on the job, or for refusing to break the law at the request of the employer. The majority view among States is that public policy may be found in either a State constitution, statute, or administrative rule, but some States have either restricted or expanded the doctrine beyond this bound. The public-policy exception is the most widely accepted exception, recognized in 43 of the 50 States.

An employer cannot legally fire you for refusing to break the law under the public policy exception. You can look up which states don't have the public policy exception in the linked PDF.

If the company is only licensed and bonded to paint, is it legal for them to perform this type of work, regardless of the location?

You should be able to look up which jobs/professions require a license on the site for your state/local government (because this varies by state). You might find the The National Occupational Licensing Database useful as well. (Do note that the table on the page itself may not be complete for your state.)

Answer 2

Is this legal?

Yes.

Can I say no?

Yes. With some employers, this is the equivalent of saying "Please fire me."

I understand it is HIS home but he isn't doing the work, I am and I work for a painting company.

You work for HIS company. If what you are being asked to do doesn't suit you, find a new employer. In most US locales, there are plenty of employers looking for workers.

In a comment, you mentioned that your employer is your brother. Instead of asking "is this legal", you should just sit down and discuss it with your brother.

Answer 3

Can I say no? I was threatened with being fired for not wanting to perform these duties.

If you don't want to do the work, quit. No point waiting to be fired. Find alternative employment first if you can. These are tough times.

I'm not taking sides, but as a personal observation many employers are doing something a bit different just to keep their employees busy and justify paying them these days while their business is short on work due to COVID related issues in the industry. No one minds much if the work isn't too onerous, they're just happy to have a payday. So I see dancers doing gardening and service staff doing make work, airhostesses answering phones etc,.

Answer 4

I don't see how you have many options here. The business owner is having you work on his own home. There's likely nothing likely illegal about that. You work in an "at-will" state. There's likely no actual legally binding employment contract stating what your job duties are and aren't. You can do the work and get paid or you can leave and find employment elsewhere. Unfortunate as that seems, those are likely your only options.

Answer 5

Only membership in a trade union lets members say "that's not my job." You consider yourself a painter. Your boss considers you an employee. Your boss does get to decide these things.

If you want future employment to be only painting, consider joining the IUPAT, but depending on where you live this might limit the work you can get.

Answer 6

I was hired 3 years ago by a local painting contractor. Recently my employer started remodeling his own house and this is where the work is taking place.

This is interesting. If he is doing the work at his own house ...

siding, roofing, framing, building decks, drywall, interior trim including cabinetry and more.

The building of decks is something that local governments watch carefully. If it is done wrong then people can die. Of course if the work you were being asked to do is gas, electrical, and water then the building inspector will want to make sure everything is up to code.

Even if you aren't doing the electrical the boss could be having a carpet layer do that.

Is this legal?

Maybe. People do DIY projects in their own homes all the time. The work has to be done by licensed insured people for only a small subset of a big project.

I also assume that if the work requires building permits and inspections then those have been done.

Now if you are asking can you be forced to do this....

Can I say no? I was threatened with being fired for not wanting to perform these duties.

That depends on the contract you have. There are examples when the "boss" requires employees or sub-contractors to do a little favor at no cost to keep the work flowing to the employee. But if you aren't getting paid that is a problem.

Also if your boss isn't the owner, then owner might not know this work is being done and your pay is being miss-charged to another project.

But if the work is legitimate and the boss is paying for the work, and you are getting paid the proper amount then most people don't see a problem.

If you have a contract and can pick and choose which projects you might be able to skip this one. But you still put that contract at risk.

I guess you as an employee could say no. But if there is no other projects you can switch to, then you might see a smaller paycheck or find your self unemployed.

Answer 7

A goof up will wreck his license. The client pays him, not you. Unless you are committing a criminal act, your boss is the only one liable if something goes wrong with the job.

I am not an attorney.