What "Other Duties as Assigned" Is Actually Costing You

Somewhere in your employment contract, there is a clause that reads something like this: "The employee agrees to perform other duties as assigned by the employer."

Four words. Unlimited reach.

Most NPs sign this clause without much thought. It reads like standard boilerplate. It probably is standard boilerplate. What "standard" means in this context is that it appears in most NP employment contracts. Not that it's acceptable, or that it protects you, or that it means the same thing in practice as it sounds like it means on paper.

This clause is the mechanism by which every future scope expansion, added responsibility, and retroactive policy change becomes contractually permissible. Understanding it changes how you read everything else in your contract.