I started off as a legal assistant. I pretty much just answered phones. I was constantly bored and felt really underutilized. At my one year I asked for a GIANT raise and got it. I think part of the reason my boss agreed to it was because he knew I had been cheated on and was going through a divorce.

I appreciated the raise a ton- but it wasn’t enough and I had to take on a second job waiting tables nights and weekends. I work 70 hours a week and rarely get to see my teenager.

A few months later I asked for a title change to office administrator and went to him with a HUGE list of all the additional responsibilities I could take on to help the firm. I also asked for another raise to go along with the title change and added duties.

I had told him I hated working two jobs and was 100% committed to the law firm and would prefer to put in a lot more hours there than try and split my time. He was psyched about all the new tasks but was not about the raise.

This pretty much killed my motivation. I take pride in my work but why should I bust my ass and be busy literally ALL DAY when they were paying me the same amount to just answer the phones and do nothing.

I left our meeting with a HUGE list of tasks I was supposed to follow up on independently.

He recently asked to meet with me for a follow up. I have almost no progress to show him. I am tapped out and have no motivation. I know he is going to be pissed. This meeting is going to be ugly. I hate confrontation and feel like I’m going to cry when he chews me a new one for not doing what I had promised.

I also can see the perspective that I haven’t given him any incentive to give me a raise. I’ve only given him evidence that I don’t follow through on what I say I’m going to do.

Furthermore- I can sense that our dynamic is changing. I used to love my job and had a great working relationship with my boss. Lately things have been tense. He has been on my ass about things that were never an issue before. I’m in charge of our social media and wrote a FB post that he considered UPL. (I genuinely didn’t think it was and am now confused about what UPL even is.) I had him review the post to make sure it was okay- so it never even got posted but he was SUPER upset about it and now constantly censors me.

He doesn’t want me to answer any questions from clients/ prospective clients over the phone- including our hourly rates (even though I’ve been giving them out since I started and it was never an issue.) He has been increasingly critical over the past few months.

HOW DO I FIX THIS SITUATION?

I have begun having really bad stress and anxiety about work. I am absolutely dreading this meeting tomorrow. I just want to rewind the clock 6 months and go back to just answering the phones. Or find a new job that actually pays me enough to not have to work two jobs.

Any advice on how to unstick myself in this situation???