I was assigned a deliverable at 4pm on Friday that is expected to be done by 8am Monday. While I am able to work on it over the weekend, I told my PM I will be logging over time as this is an unrealistic expectation to be completed within the working hours it was assigned. He said I am not allowed to log overtime and I am expected to complete this by the deadline. How should I navigate this as my time is not being compensated?

Boundaries have to be set. If you allow this, it will occur again. You have to determine if you’re comfortable with that and act accordingly

Never do work you aren’t being compensated for.

Also be forthright about how many working hours are available to complete this and what the quality will be as a result. For example, if I were assigned this at 4pm on a Friday for a Monday 8am deadline, I would say “I would normally dedicated X hours to this task. However, without the ability to log overtime, the deliverable will include/lack/consist mainly of…”

I did push back to the client saying it won’t be completed by the expected deadline and they escalated the issue to the PM who in the end took their side

If this were me, I would be clear that I can prioritize it over what else I planned to finish by EOD and commit one hour to progressing the deliverable, but can’t work over this weekend without notice. I’d likely either have a cut down version or leave an unfinished deliverable and be clear with the supervisor which I’m going with. They either committed to something they should not have, or were too late in communicating an ask to you. Only in a few circumstances would I lean in on this.

I would get the unreasonable request and my kind pushback in writing, then escalate immediately. But it does depend on company culture. Deloitte doesn’t really tolerate those kind of unrealistic expectations when elevated. However, if someone chooses to work the weekend, no one is going to stop you.

So where did this land since it’s morning :)

The people request an update since we bet on the right horse!

The PM can do it.

Personally I’d do the work, charge it, and escalate the issue if the PM brings it up. Idk your situation but the market for consultants is still pretty hot in the US and the partners/higher ups balk at the possibility of more people leaving consulting.

I would suck it up and do the work, but document everything. This way you’re showing your dedication to the team (albeit for a ridiculous ask), but your ideal boundaries (if they hadn’t already been set - as this is an opportunity to set them).

Also, this will show some pushback to the PM because it’s not that you can’t do the work in the allotted time, it’s just an unreasonable ask for anyone and they need to understand that.

keep us posted please! curious of the outcome

I would only put an hour of time toward the deliverable. Whenever this has happened in the past, I realize the ask was much less than what I understood it to be. Hopefully there was a misunderstanding but curious to hear what happened today

Have you tried reaching out to the HR department?