Strange things bosses ask employees to do

Nearly one in four workers have been asked by their bosses to do something unrelated to their job in the office.

This might not seem that unusual - bosses can often ask for extra help here and there - but when the requests start to get a bit weird, then maybe it's time to worry.

According to a study by CareerBuilder, which was conducted on more than 3,600 employees this year, and drew on additional results based on a similar study conducted last year, some employees are asked to do some fairly odd things.

Here are some of the real-life requests bosses have made to their employees:

• One boss asked a staff member to buy a rifle for him
• A boss asked an employee to be a surrogate mother for her - more than once
• To remove her stitches
• To scour an abandoned office building for furniture and supplies they could use
• A boss asked an employee to fire his (the boss's) brother
• To clip her dog's nails
• Boss asked employee to spy on senior management
• Boss asked a staff member to go online and post false good comments about him
• A boss asked one employee to bail a colleague out of jail
• The boss asked an employee if he could be better friends with him

Even though more than half (64%) of employees said they respected their boss, only 37% said they had learned from him or her. Surprisingly, 32% of them also felt they were smarter than their boss.

"The study shows the majority of workers have a good relationship with their bosses, where they feel supported and valued," Rosemary Haefner, CareerBuilder's vice president of HR, said.

"If your boss is asking you to do something outside of your scope of work responsibilities, it's important to have open communications around what is appropriate."