Am I the issue here? Re work issue

[rosalie11]

Having issues at work with manager. I work from home since COVID 19

My set days to work are 5 hours on a Thursday and same on Friday.

Since working for her she has called me “urgently” to deliver documents, pick up documents, help her at 8pm when she got locked out of the college we work for

Recently me and her haven’t been getting on.
I suspect due to her taking on more work but she is taking this out on me.

I went to collect HB documents from someone who is a client. My manager waited a week after collection to tell me it’s urgent I upload them to the councils website although she never told me his DOB or NI number which I needed.

She has again waited two weeks whilst the documents sat in my house to today to tell me it’s again urgent they are uploaded today again not on my working day.

As she said it was urgent and looking at emails between her and the council (I have access to her emails) the senior person at the HB claim office said the documents can just be delivered to the council with P&C their name or email to him.

As I read this and as I was having trouble uploading the documents I delivered them and marked urgent.

Now she has an issue with this saying she never told me to do this and that she is legally responsible for these documents even though they have been sitting in my house for nearly 3 weeks.

She then messaged me a sarcastic comment it took her other PA 10min to do,

Currently she has given me four weeks notice which I asked her to email me after this disagreement,

Am I the issue?

Wrote in my car sorry for mistakes!!

Sorry but you don't very proactive.

When she asks you to pick up documents, ask her what she wants you to do with them. This negates the problem of sitting on them for three weeks until she is chased and they need to be forwarded urgently.

A good PA is proactive. They don't sit there twiddling their thumbs until they are told what to do.

@NoSquirrels

How do you usually run things as her PA? Do you have a debrief of what’s needed/next actions/follow-ups?

5 hours 2x days a week doesn’t sound like enough time or a helpful pattern (Thurs/Fr) for getting things to progress.

Sounds like the OP's in a job share as there was mention of another PA? I could be wrong though.

You work two set days with set hours and she expects you to be available on a full time basis. Not sure how anyone can say you aren’t proactive when she expects you to work when you don’t get paid. Maybe they all expect you to work for free?

If it’s a job share then even more reason why processes and systems ought to be in place?

I don’t know if you’re the ‘problem’ OP but I don’t think you’ve been part of the solution. Time to decide how to proceed in this job.

So you had the documents at your house, emailed her for the missing info, and then what. Did you check your emails before your due work date or wait a week? Surely if you only work Thurs and Fri and you knew it was urgent you would have passed it on to your colleague who works Mon - weds?

Won't the client's information needed be ON the forms you collected??

@rosalie11

Most the time when I message her she doesn’t reply But I probably could have chased her more but tbh I lost interest in the job it’s too much she ask from me. She will ring me at 4pm on a Friday saying she needs things done by tomorrow or Monday things which take hours

I can see that she's difficult to work with, but if HB stands for housing benefit(?) then the person who needed it sorting out wouldn't have the luxury of being able to lose interest. They needed their claim processed ASAP so that their rent was paid.

Isn’t it all moot? She’s given you notice, you’re leaving it’s over.

Why are you answering calls/emails from her on non-working days or at 8 p.m. at night? There is such a thing as being flexible and working outside contracted hours on occasion or helping with genuinely urgent queries and then there is being taken for a ride! It sounds like you have bene taken advantage of, a situation which you have also allowed to develop and continue, and this has then contributed to feelings of resentfulness and lack of interest which have carried over into your actual working days.

Start sending her more frequent reminders about this sort of thing (on your working days obviously) and physically print them out, together with copies of all her replies. If she doesn't reply, email her again, and say you are awaiting her instructions. Print them out too.

If she is emailing or phoning/texting you on non-working days or out of hours, ignore them. If she keeps on doing it, contact HR and tell them that she keeps expecting you to work on non-contracted days, and should you be claiming overtime for this. That might put the cat among the pigeons.

How did the other PA manage it? Did the manager give her all the required information? Is it a job share?

It doesn’t sound like a 10 hour week is sufficient for the role. Your boss needs continuity throughout the week.

Aren't things like dob on Hb application forms?

I got 4 weeks notice anyway obviously not suited with each other.
Will just learn from the experience.

DOB is not on a bank statement and an universal credit statement nor is the NI, these are the forms I collected.

Yes...you're the issue here. You said yourself, you 'lose interest' 🤷‍♀️ That's not how it works is it? You can't just 'lose interest' and expect to remain employed!

I think you're getting a hard time op and your boss sounds very disorganised, then blames you for not having things done in a timely fashion. Is there a HR department or somebody more senior you can take this to? It doesn't sound right that you can be given notice without going through a warning process

No due process is unfair, even though you seem happy to leave. Talk to your HR team.

The crux of the problem is that 10 hours a week is not sufficient for the role or the amount of work needed.

I think you were starting from a poor position OP.

That being said, I would expect you to chase things up especially when it impacts someone else.

It's probably best that you're leaving. Hopefully she takes on someone for more hours next time.