They say
“That’s not my job.”
Your response
“I hear that you see this as outside your role. Tell me which part feels outside it. I’ll explain why I’m assigning it to you, and then we’ll clarify the result, deadline, and any support or priority trade-off you need.”
First, check this
Would a reasonable person in this role recognize the task as part of the job, or are you stretching the role because the work needs an owner?
Why this works
It tests the role boundary before treating the statement as defiance. Asking which part is disputed may reveal that the issue is the task itself, the decision authority, or an unspoken change in role. Once the boundary is clear, the manager can make a clean assignment without arguing about attitude or pretending every request was always in the job description.
Don’t say
“We all have to do things that aren’t in our job descriptions.”