Oh, trust me, people HAVE argued this.  We have a very cagey HR/Legal department.  See, the OT goes into the system as "unapproved."    Fortunately, we also have a cagey office manager who's good at working around the system so the docking has never actually happened.  (I was late - by an hour or so - twice this winter due to hitting unavoidable potholes and losing a tire each time.  Our OM finagled it so I wasn't penalized.) 

And the fact is, I could show up at 8:30 on the dot and leave at 5:00 on the dot and to hell with whatever's going on and they'd probably have no recourse against me.   But it would be politically stupid to do that.  I have a feeling my new boss would like to bring in her own person right now, so I just want to keep my head down until I find something else.  Still looking....

That's about the size of it where I am.  We have people doing essentially the same jobs being called Executive Assistants, Administrators, Coordinators, Administrative Coordinators, Departmental Associates...it all depends on what your boss wants you to be called and how much they can bump your salary, but has very little to do with the work being done.

Now in my case, I'm exempt, but I still have to punch in and punch out and can be docked if my hours are less than 40 per week.  So docked if under, but not paid if over.  Lose-Lose.   

Hands down, it's managing the calendar and meetings.  And my department has a number of meeting-addicts. 

"...the CEO's executive assistant who has a Director of Administration title..."

There are executive assistants and executive assistants.  During my teaching days, in my district, what everyone else calls a Vice Principal had the title Executive Assistant.  In many respects, he worked almost completely independently of the Principal, checking in with the big picture stuff, but not bothering with minutiae.  He was much more an executive than an assistant.

If that's the case here, where the EA is more an executive than an assistant, then I don't know that I'd call it a step back, but I'd make darn sure that 75/25 split was truly feasible.  If the EA turns out to need a lot more support than 25% of the admin's time, they he/she should probably have his/her own person.  That would be my concern rather than who's who in the pecking order.  I've been caught in the "shared" position more than once and it's always been a problem.

IF, however, this is not the case, and the EA is more of an admin support role, then yes, I might hesitate to take that position.  (Unless, of course, I'm facing redundancy or really need the job.)

Hi Petersen, and welcome!

I'd call back tomorrow when the Deputy is there, and ask to speak to him/her personally.  If the charge is against a credit card, they can reverse it.  No biggie.  Just remember to confirm that it is, indeed, reversed when the bill comes.

I know this is frustrating and you may feel like you've been given the brushoff, but the likely scenario is that the receptionist does not have the authority to even confirm if they can do that, especially if this is a little "something special" that's done only for certain customers. 

Good luck!

We do have a dress code - mostly a list of restrictions:  no jeans, tank tops, tee shirts, or athletic shoes unless required for medical reasons (and yes, we have a person who comes under that).  Most people here wear suits or coordinated separates.

We have "business casual" Fridays in the summer.  Men can forego the necktie and suit and opt for a sport shirt or polo shirt with khakis and leave the blazer at home.  Women can, in the words of our guidelines, "adjust the level of formality accordingly" as long as they don't wear any of the prohibited items. 

The problem is the fine line between:
 - a sleeveless top or dress and a tank top.  (Of course, you can always toss on a cardigan to fix that.)
 - a dressy sandal and a more casual, beachy sandal.  Rubber flip flops are a definite no-no.   
 - capri pants that are obviously meant to be dressy and the more casual type.

I avoid the issues by wearing a khaki skirt with a polo shirt, or a cotton knit dress that comes to my knee (like a polo shirt with a skirt attached) that I wear with ballet flats on those days.  If it's really humid, I'll wear my hair in a up in a clip, but that's as far as I go.

I must say though that our two youngest employees (both in their early twenties) are some of the most conservative dressers in our department! As one of them said, "I don't want people thinking I'm one of those dimwitted kids that doesn't know how to dress, so I'm erring on the side of caution!"  They always look sharp!

I have buddies at work, but I wouldn't classify them as what I define as true friends.  They are people with whom I'll share a recipe, recommend a good book or movie, congratulate on their new baby/house/degree/car, have their back in the workplace, but that's about it.  Like Atlanta, I like to keep my work life and my private life separate, including no work people on my Facebook page (when I had one), and no personal friends on my LinkedIn page.

I'm probably paid a little bit above average for my area, but it's not keeping up with the cost of living, particularly since my health insurance contribution went up by about 30% (after a similar jump last year - we're now at $370 a month!) and our local taxes are going up again.  The house budget has been trimmed to gas, groceries, prescriptions and utilities.     

I don't mean to sound bitter, but I've just sat through another half-a$$ed promise of a review of my position and a raise/promotion, but they've been making that promise for years now, and despite stellar reviews and going above and beyond, it never happens.

I wouldn't feel so disgusted if it weren't for the fact that they've given a third promotion to the person who's only been here 18 months and continually makes a mess out of everything with his bull in a china shop tactics - and doesn't learn from the mistakes!  He's cost the department thousands of dollars in wild goose chases, nearly landed us in legal trouble for making promises he had no business making -- and HE gets three (substantial) promotions.   Someone explain this to me?!

I'm able to stream our university's radio station through my monitor's speakers.  They play a mix of classical and jazz so it's nothing that could be considered inappropriate. 

(Conducting along to "Flight of the Valkyries", however, may be frowned upon if seen by the wrong people!  Oops! )

I lasted two years as a teacher.
Then, five years with a warehouse doing customer service, shipping, credits, etc. 
Past fifteen years in higher education administration (at my alma mater, no less!). It's had its ups and downs, but overall a good place.  Recently got a new boss and I think we're on a path to working well together.

And, oh yeah, been away for a while -- hi everyone!

Jumping on the desk fan bandwagon, but also suggesting keeping some ice water to sip in an insulated tumbler handy.  Or how about one of those cooling neckbands?

I'm in fundraising so our busy seasons start in October and go through December and then we have a slight lull until March and then all the spring activities kick in until mid -June.  We're never actually quiet, but late winter and late summer tend to be when we can catch our breath.

Well, we live pretty frugally anyway -- don't eat out much, shop clearance racks and overstocks, cook big and freeze little, basic accommodations when we need to travel, etc. etc.  We are in the middle of refinancing our mortgage, which will save us about $200 a month, which will go directly into our savings to build that up.

I have an Olympus DSS system and I love it.  Twice a year, I have to transcribe a four to five hour board meeting and I'd be absolutely lost without the system.  My only complaint is the foot pedal can be a little "touchy" but I usually slip off my shoe and use my stocking feet.  I like being able to speed up and slow down and adjust for background noise, and mark where I stopped.