What to do when a colleague takes credit for your work

My colleague takes credit for my work. I had a hunch it was happening, but when he did it last week right in front of me on a Zoom call, that was proof! I spoke up for myself but it was too late, he already got praised for a report that I submitted. How should I handle it?

First, I’m sorry to hear this is happening — it’s a sign of a toxic workplace, but it’s great that you spoke up for yourself in the moment. Have you spoken about it directly to your colleague? Take him aside and say something to the effect of, “On last week’s call when you said you worked on this report that everyone loved? Well, that was my report. I worked two solid days on it, please do not take credit for my work again.”

Be direct and firm by indicating that his behavior is unacceptable. If it happens again, call him out on it again, but like you mentioned, it may happen behind your back when you can’t stand up for yourself.

Next, you may also want to loop in your boss. You can handle it in a variety of ways, one of which is also being direct. You can say something like, “I’m glad you liked the report that I worked on entirely by myself …” Your conversation (I would have a conversation, not an email or Slack message about it) and your tone is specific to how you prefer to handle it, but I would definitely remain calm and confident. You have a few options such as waiting to see if your colleague takes credit again for your work or addressing it now.

The bigger, underlying concern I have is how your boss reacts. If your boss listens to you and advocates for you, that’s a good sign, but some bosses play favorites and your boss may support your colleague. Hopefully, this situation will be resolved when you approach your colleague, but if you speak to your boss and your boss sides with your colleague and doesn’t acknowledge your work, doesn’t listen to you, etc., then there’s a more pressing concern here about a toxic workplace. You may want to start looking for a new external job because there are countless employers who would value your work and listen, recognize and respect what you’re saying. You deserve better.

I finally used my company’s mental health hotline — it’s amazing! I feel so much better and have tools to handle stress, but during the calls we realized my job is the main course of my stress! How can I better handle the stress?

My immediate reaction is to look for a new job. Without knowing your line of work (since some jobs are inherently more stressful than others regardless of the organization your work for), overall, start exploring new options externally as soon as possible. The question isn’t so much how to better handle the stress, but rather how to get a better job so there is less stress. It really is that simple.

I also recommend continuing to tap into the hotline for support and seek additional support if needed. It sounds like it’s been helpful in identifying the cause of your constant stress. Now the next action item is to revise your resume, start searching for jobs, set up online job alerts so new opportunities land in your inbox, network and more. Your reason “why” here is pretty significant. Allow that to fuel your job search: to get a new job with less stress that will hopefully vastly improve your quality of life.

— Tribune News Service