AIBU about this not being my job?

[NotHereForThis]

Have NCd just in case I reveal too much.

I work in a professional services firm, having qualified about a year ago. The firm itself is very large but my office is very small - 8 of us in total (5 professionals, 3 support staff). I am by far the most junior person in the team.

Our support staff consists of two secretaries who are great but overworked (because they also work for several other professionals not based in our office), and an administrative assistant who is supposed to deal with non-skilled admin (copying / filing / printing etc). I say supposed to, because the reality is he is so utterly hopeless that even completely basic tasks are beyond him.

My issue is that my immediate boss (and the only other person in my team who works in this office) has started using me as a secretary / admin assistant, because she doesn’t trust our admin team or thinks they are too busy. This means I am being given a huge amount of additional work which is not my job (sorting through huge piles of papers, filing, compiling information, chasing for payment of fees etc). She has made it clear that this is because she knows our secretaries will take too long to get round to it, and our admin assistant isn’t capable and should be fired but that’s another story

I wouldn’t mind - genuinely - except that I have to do 7 hours of chargeable, client work every day. That is already a huge burden. I don’t have the time to add to my workload with piles of secretarial / admin work.

How do I tactfully address this? I don’t want it to look like I consider the work beneath me, because I don’t. And I appreciate the because I am the most junior person in the team, some shit jobs will inevitably fall to me. That’s ok - but I don’t have the time to carry the job of another person because the person who should be doing it isn’t trusted. It’s also starting to affect my performance stats, and my home life (because I am working late so often).

I’ve tried explaining to my boss that I’m very busy, or suggesting when she gives me filing etc that I could pass it to our admin assistant, but it’s clear being subtle isn’t going to work!

(Sorry, that was a very long post for such a tedious issue...)

Don’t be subtle.

Every time you get handed work that will impact on billable hours ask her what should be prioritised.

Every time.

Make it her decision to prioritise admin over billable work - you have to be blunt about highlighting the connection between if I do x I can’t do y.

You should go to your boss to say that you are perfectly willing to do the work but in view of your commitments the only way you can manage is if you omit something else. Take evidence

I would just tell her directly. I'd be really pissed off if it had started to reflect on the work I was actually paid to do

If the head of your team is half decent, they will absolutely recognise you are not complaining because you think the work is "beneath you". I'm guessing you have a more senior team leader in a different office? Have the other professional staff working in your office noticed that you're being passed inappropriate work?

Can you email/call at lunch time/early evening to someone more senior in your team? I understand your wanting to be tactful - you have to work alongside your immediate boss most the time I imagine? Hopefully an emotionally intelligent person can assist by deciding to spend some time hot-dealing in your office, or find a convenient way to spot by themselves what is happening?

Hi OP

You’re very right to be concerned because if you’re doing this admin, you’re not doing billable hours and that will reflect badly on you personally in your role.

So - start keeping track of this extra work. When he gives you this extra, tell him is that you’re more familiar with the role and this extra work, you’re aware of how much time x task will take, b task will take etc and ask him to which client should these tasks be billed as it’s the only way you’ll be able to meet your target 7 hours billable hours.

Then keep track of these tasks, how long you spend on it with billable allocation so that your boss sees this. Presuming you are used to 15 minute increment billable time regime? Same with punching in a client number at photocopier?