Coworker taking credit for my work
A coworker takes credit for your individual labor and shared ideas, leaving you trapped while management brushes off the issue. Reacting out of frustration only leaves you feeling guilty, while the other person gets rewarded.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- It is not one crowd: 4 people on Reddit and 1 on Stack Exchange ran into the same thing.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Ignoring the coworker and focusing solely on your own tasksDid this help you?
- 2Calling out false statements in public immediatelyDid this help you?
- 3Tracking individual metrics and performance data to prove your output to managementDid this help you?
- 4Proposing structured systems like alternating shifts or task blocks to ensure equal workloadsDid this help you?
- 5sending results to your boss and their boss CC'd via emailDid this help you?
- 6putting your contributions in writing and email it to the C-suite or directorDid this help you?
- 7building your own business so no one can steal your creditDid this help you?
- 8mentioning your contribution in a 1:1 meeting with your bossDid this help you?
- 9holding back and exercising more caution regarding what you decide to shareDid this help you?
- 10marking work with a revision date and nameDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“everyone brushed it off too risky, not scalable, and apparently I’m too “junior” to handle it lol so I just stayed quiet”source ↗
“and now it’s all we did this our strategy worked, great teamwork same idea, same plan, same execution except now everyone’s taking the credit”source ↗
“This happened to me all the time. I would share an idea with the IT guy and he went and took all the credit from the CEO.”source ↗
“takes credit for much of the work I do — I slave away at returns (a retail store) — he is always wanting to get credit cards.”source ↗
“What I find difficult is that yesterday when he pronounced loudly he did all the returns, I got triggered as I saw him standing socializing with others when I was bombarded by customers and did all the returns.”source ↗
“I feel like crap because I got triggered and responded. I feel bad, guilty because I upset him...”source ↗
“Furthermore, you have every reason to believe that even if your lead were to advance, they would not bring you along or consider you for a promotion, simply because they do not particularly like you or feel a personal connection.”source ↗
“Anyone else have another preparer removing your sign off and replacing it with theirs to make themselves look better to the reviewer? 🙋”source ↗
“then they bill 5 hours to “reviewing work done by other preparer” and all they did was change your sign off to theirs lmao”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Why do coworkers snitch to management over petty things?
- 2Coworker using access to salary data for negotiations
- 4How to handle a new teacher who is trying to take over
- 9Coworkers using AI for everything
- 4Why do teachers keep getting mistaken for students?
- 7How to set boundaries with a work friend who is demanding HR info