‘I am not free labor’: Data analyst gets voluntold to be the new unpaid “morale lead” for HR's office's culture-boosting protocol, but she refuses because she was never asked

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 7, 2025 6:00 PM EST

Companies love to preach about their amazing office culture and a thriving workplace environment, but when it comes to planning something more complicated than the annual pizza party,  suddenly there's far less enthusiasm coming from the higher-ups. A data analyst called out her HR department's morale-destroying plan when they signed her up to be the new unpaid lead for their culture-boosting protocols. All without asking, they threw her name at the top of the list to take on an enormous amount of extra work, but she put her foot down, refusing to take on any additional workload without consulting her direct manager first. 

This out-of-pocket HR team didn't like that. 

Apparently, the morale boost they were looking for wasn't coming from the bottom of their hearts, but from whatever leadership podcast they most recently heard. Clearly, they missed the point, and this office employee wasn't about to triple their daily workload without seeing that effort reflected on their paycheck. You know what is an excellent morale boost in the workplace? More money in your pocket every month.

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  • "AITJ for refusing to run all the office "morale" stuff after HR put my name on a sign up sheet without asking"

    Woman working at her desk on data analysis
    via Mungkhoodstudios

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I was hired as a data analyst last fall, small tech company, hybrid. My plate is full, Q2 dashboards, a messy migration, late night pager once a week.
    via PavelDune
  • Last month HR rolled out a "culture initiative", basically a spreadsheet of duties like birthday cupcakes, snack restock, welcome baskets, planning surprise parties, taking notes during meetings so managers can be more present, all that soft glue.
    via PavelDune
  • I didnt sign up, I was in a client call. Next day I get a ping, congrats, you are lead for quarter one morale, please pick a co lead.
    via PavelDune
  • My name was already typed in bold, apparently someone said I have good vibes because I bring muffins sometimes.
    via PavelDune
  • Those muffins are from Costco and were for my team because we shipped a rough sprint, not a personality.
    via PavelDune
  • I replied, thanks but no, I was not asked and this is not my job class.
    via PavelDune
  • HR wrote back, it is everyones job to build community, and we need women to lead because we listen better.
    via PavelDune
  • That made my skin crawl. I said again, I will join events, I will not plan them.
    via PavelDune
  • My manager said we should be team players, but also admitted my objectives are behind and he needs me on the migration.
    via PavelDune
  • Meanwhile people started forwarding me requests, like a dev asked if I can stock energy drinks with zero sugar, and a director told me to schedule a baby shower at 3 pm on sprint review day.
    via PavelDune
  • I stopped answering, and HR created a group chat called Morale with me as owner. I left the chat.
    via PavelDune
  • Yesterday HR pulled me into a video call with a slide deck about how culture work is undervalued, which I agree, but that means you pay people or adjust load, not secretly assign women.
    via PavelDune
  • I said if they want an actual coordinator role, post it, I will even help write the req, but I am not free labor because I smile and print stickers straight.
    via PavelDune
  • Now Im getting side eyes, and someone said I killed the vibe, which is wild because our vibe lately is three outages and lukewarm pizza.
    via PavelDune
  • My manager told me to write it up for HR formally, so I did, including the gendered comment.
    via PavelDune
  • HR is "disappointed" and says they will re evaluate the process, but a few coworkers think I made drama for nothing.
    via PavelDune
  • TLDR, company stuck me as unpaid morale lead without asking, with a gendered reason, I declined and documented it, people are salty.
    via PavelDune
  • Joopaboop If anyone criticizes you for refusing to do the extra unpaid role, just email hr and let them know that whilst you have not volunteered, these people have made it clear that they are happy to do all this extra work for free. See what happens then.
    via Joopaboop
  • Ntj and I am really sorry that you are basically being assigned extra work due to your gender. Save all emails and texts in a separate non work email just in case.
    via Joopaboop
  • Medical-Potato5920 · NTJ. Remind them that selecting you know the basis of your gender for this task is gender discrimination. Gender discrimination is not going to improve the culture at your workplace. Culture needs to be led from the top.
    via Medical-Potato5920
  • Pizza_Machin3. NTJ what they're looking for is an office manager, which is a job position they can pay someone to do.
    via Pizza_Machin3
  • Dr_Spiders. "HR wrote back, it is everyones job to build community, and we need women to lead because we listen better." The fact that HR put this in writing is wild.
    via Dr_Spiders
  • rubikscanopener Keep your manager in the loop. Make sure that they know the sheer volume of garbage that keeps coming your way. Stand your ground. You don't report to HR.
    via rubikscanopener
  • HappySummerBreeze Deliberately not taking unpaid nurturing tasks at work is actual career advice given to women who want to progress. I've literally listened to a whole speech about it
    via HappySummerBreeze

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