Single? You're not alone. More than a quarter of American adults are living in a "nonfamily household," according to the US Census Bureau. This can be loosely translated as no spouse, no kids, further translated in the workplace to mean: You have all the free time in the world to do extra work.

Whether it's "voluntary" overtime or the business trip far from home, many bosses find it easier to ask their single employees to pick up the slack--they figure with no families to go home to, you won't mind a few extra hours at the office. But is that really fair? We looked into this practice and show how you can stop your single status from hurting your work and home life.

"If you're going to be away on a business trip, you're more likely to be sent [if you're single] because you don't have a spouse or children," says Joy Gugeler, editor-in-chief of Suite 101.com.

Jenn Willhite, a single design assistant in California, has lived this experience. "I was working as an event planner assistant and we were planning a banquet at the Hyatt in San Diego. I had to stay overnight at the hotel, work tons of overtime, and be there really early to set up. It was easier [for my boss] to ask me because I didn't have kids or a husband to go home to," she says.

Beyond overtime and the need to be available for planning special functions outside of work, a double-standard exists for single employees.

"I have a team of about five people who work under me," explains 36-year-old Marni Wedin, a producer with CityTV in Vancouver and a voluntarily single person. Wedin says she doesn't ask people to work overtime because she knows they're single, but when situations arise where she does ask for overtime help from an unentangled staffer and they turn her down, it can make her blood boil. "If I ask a single person with no kids to do overtime and they say no or that they can't, I'm fine with that...but deep down inside, I'm seething. I don't mean to do it, but I do," Wedin says.

Another problem that plagues single workers occurs during office parties and events. Since you're unmarried, many offices will assume that you'll be coming to these fetes alone. But that doesn't mean you have to put up with it.

"I had a situation once with a Christmas party where everyone was invited to bring a 'significant other.' The assumption was that I wouldn't bring someone, so it wasn't included in the final head count," Gugeler says.

According to Gugeler, there are very simple ways to preserve your singlehood sanity in a coupled workplace:

1. "Be clear about monitoring your work hours. If you have a tendency to stay late, and therefore the assumption is that you can/will, look at your activities so you can have a place to be after work.

2. "Take full advantage of vacations, book them in advance, give your dates, and don't go into detail about where you're going, with whom or why.

3. "When you're signing up for a company-sponsored event, make sure to always mark it '+1.' Whether you bring someone, romantic or otherwise, is not the point. The point is that there are different kinds of arrangements and 1+1=2, no matter its romantic hierarchy."

Or, if all else fails, "lie," jests Nazanin, a 20-something executive assistant. "Tell your boss that you have a partner or that you have a lot of family obligations," Nazanin says. "My boss started giving me more work and hours for the same pay when he realized I didn't have a family or partner, but I work with someone who is married and she does indeed get preferential treatment--he's not as demanding of her time."