EAs, AAs, or PAs...Advice needed!

[babyzoe]

So today, I get into work (ok, I confess 30 min late) to find an email from my boss who's currently in Europe for the week. It says to call him asap. Well, the email was sent at 7:30am my time, and even if I had gotten to work on time it at 9am or on-time-when-the-boss-is-in-the-office 8:30am, I still would have been just getting to the email an hour later. So I call him from the office and he doesn't answer. I email him and he says "nvm, I already took care of it, but you need to be closer to your phone while I'm on travel". While I agree with what he said in a general sense, can he actually expect me to be up and ready to work at 7:30am (or god-forbid even earlier, as he's 5/6 hours ahead of me) and then continue to work in the office until 5:30pm-6:00pm when MY office actually closes?. If the company wasn't such a stickler on OT, then I'd stay no problem, but I have to get approval any time I even consider going overtime. Not to mention I don't even get up until 8:00am!!!

I guess my question is, should I sit down and find a way to discuss boundaries or is this just something that exec assistants all over the world are expected to do?

 

[My_First]

It could be that from time to time when the business requires it maybe that you would do more hours. However I would ask the question and ask what the expectations are.

 

[Mommy's Angel]

I would communicate your concerns with your supervisor. Maybe he/she forgot the time lapse (though it's hard to imagine). Find out if you will be paid for the extra time you are expected to be at their beckon call. I would also find out if this is something that will need to happen ALL the time or during each time they travel abroad. Was this something that was in your work contract? Were you told you'd be expected to work early on occasions that they are out of the area? Will you get time and a half for anything over 40 hours? I would just communicate with your boss. Let them know your concerns and ask what their intent is for your job description.