Work Advice: She thought her hours were 8 to 5

Reader: I have been the executive assistant to a CEO at a 40-person company for six months. The company's core hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. As the sole administrative employee, I have to open the office in the morning. The work hours in my employment letter are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with unpaid overtime for emergencies.

My boss arrives at 10 a.m., has a lot of meetings and settles in to do his "real work" (his words) at roughly 5 p.m. - when I'd like to leave. He clearly expects me to stay until 6 or 7 to run through various items and prepare for the following day.

I've asked to leave on time occasionally, and he says yes, but as if he's granting me a favor. I've tried to push him to meet earlier in the day, but he brushes me off with "let's do it later."

The boss is otherwise a nice guy who I think is clueless about how this is affecting me.

I have kids at home. I want to work the hours I was hired for, unless it truly is an emergency.

The human resources office told me to talk to the CEO. Can you advise me on how to tackle this topic without sounding like I'm complaining?

Karla: What we have here is a failure to communicate (or confirm) expectations. You expect to primarily work the hours you were hired for. Your boss expects his assistant to be available on his schedule. Unless you have a strictly defined contract, the terms and conditions of your job are generally subject to change, which means you can walk away, or you can renegotiate.

Even the world's most family-friendly boss responds best to a request framed in business terms: "I originally understood 8 to 5 would be the norm, but more often, this position seems to require a later shift. The open-to-close schedule is putting a strain on me. I would like to discuss options that will let me support you effectively without getting burned out."

Then, present alternatives that suit your priorities. Can a colleague or part-timer take on one end of your 8-to-7 shift? Could the boss leave you messages after 5 p.m. that you can act on before he arrives the next morning?

Speaking of putting things in business terms, let's rewind to that unpaid overtime. Employment attorney Carla Murphy of Duane Morris tells me that administrative assistants often qualify for overtime pay, unless they work for an executive of a large business and exercise discretion over "matters of significance."

You might ask your own attorney how regulations about overtime apply to your situation. If your boss has to sign off on extra paid hours for you, at least you'll be compensated for that extra time away from your family. Or perhaps your boss will start thinking twice about keeping you late.