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Exploitation of good-natured workers by employers is fairly common practice in the business world. The workplace can be a friendly environment, but being exploited by an employer can make your environment and your job problematic in many respects. There are ways to discern the amount of abuse you're taking and what it means to you and your job. At what cost are you willing to put up with it? Here's a typical scenario.

The job has started out fine, and you're getting on well with it. You're learning the ropes, and you're adjusting to the various attitudes and personalities of coworkers. You've been accepted by them as one of the group. Your performance is up to par and improving daily as you become more familiar with expectations and company procedures. Your cheerful and helpful ways have earned you the respect of your coworkers, and they know you can be depended upon to do your share. And more!

Things are going well, but there are a couple of things you've noticed. The first thing is, nobody else seems as cheerful and helpful as you are. In fact, some of them refuse to cover for others when they miss work or need a hand, and some are downright miserable about working a few minutes past quitting time to finish up some work. There seems to be some unwritten rule about going beyond the call of duty - at least, you haven't found the rule anywhere yet.

You haven't set any limits on how much work you'll do. You didn't complain about being asked to work two hours longer one evening two weeks ago. You didn't so much as raise an eyebrow when your employer brought you a stack of files to go through 15 minutes before the end of the day last Wednesday! Isn't this the mark of a good worker? A cheerful, willing worker? It's amazing nobody else has realized they'll get ahead by being a little more flexible about extra work.

But last week, you had to work late three nights because somebody didn't do what they should have done, and your employer asked you if you'd mind because it was "really urgent." And one of the other two nights, you missed your Lion's Club meeting because your boss needed you to pick out a gift for his wife's birthday, and he remarked what good taste you have. And he wants you to consider doing part of a coworker's job, too, because you're so capable and your coworker just doesn't seem to get what he's supposed to be doing.

To top it all off, your employer has asked you to cover for him when he's "out of town" for two days. He wants you to say he's at a trade

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