In our weekly series, readers can email in with any financial dilemma and enter the Money Moral Maze.
Are your friends racking up big drinks tabs and then trying to split the bill equally, is your partner overspending on your joint account? No matter your dilemma, email in anonymously, and i‘s money and business team will do our best to answer.
This week’s dilemma can be found below – email us at money@inews.co.uk with yours.
The dilemma
I dog and house sat for my boss when he went on holiday for a week last year and he’s just asked me to do it again.
We never discussed money and he didn’t pay me, but I expected him to.
The dog was a nightmare, and they didn’t leave anything in the fridge for me to eat.
Am I wrong to expect payment if I stayed in the house and looked after their dog? And how can I say no this time if I don’t get paid again?
Grace Gausden, i’s Money and Business Editor, replies
It is quite a responsibility to look after someone else’s dog for a week, especially if you are also staying at their house.
You kindly took on the offer but expected some sort of payment – even though this was never expressly discussed.
Your manager didn’t leave you any food in the fridge and you say the dog was incredibly difficult to look after for the duration of the week.
Now you’ve been asked to take on the task again but are unsure how to broach the subject of payment.
Unfortunately, I think it would be too late now to ask for payment for the previous sitting as it’s been nearly a year.
However, you can be upfront about it this time. Explain to your boss, politely, that you actually found it quite a lot of work with the dog and it wasn’t as simple as just staying at someone’s house for the week.
Realistically, he would have to pay for a professional dog sitter or a kennel if you declined so he should hopefully offer some form of compensation.
Although this feels awkward, especially with someone who is your manager, being honest is a good approach so everyone knows where they stand.
Essentially, you are providing a service so to be paid for that would seem reasonable.
If your boss turns around and says someone else will do it for free, then so be it. It saves you time and effort. However, if he apologises for not paying previously and will this time, you can discuss what you both consider to be a reasonable amount.
I would suggest you consider carefully whether you actually want to dog sit, even with payment, if it was such a difficult experience the last time.