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I used to think that being exploited on the job meant that a manager had crossed a clearly defined line with an underling. What I didn't realize is that boundary lines are not always so well-defined and anyone can fall victim to exploitation on the job even set themselves up to be exploited without realizing what happened until it's too late.

Striving to be a good worker, an employee will often go above and beyond what is expected of them. That sounds like a good thing, right? How can being a hard-worker lead to anything less than respect, bonuses and possible future promotions?

Well, the problem is that in the course of doing a good job there are unfortunately those that will take advantage of your good work ethic and use it to make their on-the-job life easier; and it doesn't always have to be a superior.

Are you being exploited by a coworker? Have you been so busy working hard, you haven't noticed that someone else is hardly working? In some instances coworkers are more than happy to slack off because they know that you will take care of making sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. At the end of the day, they put forth minimal effort, more than likely produced less than half of what you've accomplished and at the end of the week, take home the same amount of money in their paycheck.

This is in no way your fault. You are doing what you were hired to do and while it can be extremely unfair, the best to hope for is that the boss has taken notice and either the slacker will be penalized or canned; or your hard work will be recognized and you will move on; hopefully to a better position.

Or, are you being doubly exploited? Perhaps the slacker coworker situation is not only obvious to you at this point, but to others in the office as well, namely the boss. And the boss chooses not to do anything about it and worse yet, when there is something that needs to be done, needs to be done right and needs to be done right away he gives the assignment to you. There's a second time your hard work and dedication has earned you disrespect and the fact that you get the job done is working against you. You feel used. You know you're being taken advantage of; you don't like the way it makes you feel; but your standards dictate that you continue to do the work and do it to the very best of your ability.

Why do you let yourself be exploited like that? What's the alternative? You may have recourse and can file a complaint, if you have a decent human relations department or something equivalent. But it isn't without risk. Chances are once you take that step, working relationships will become very strained and at least when you were just being taken advantage of you were able to get some joy from doing a good job. There is no joy in working under strained relations and dealing with personnel issues.

Depending on your personality type, you may not care if coworkers take offense to your complaint. If you can work stress-free in a difficult environment, then go for it, make the complaint. Most folks however, find their life on the job was much more bearable when they just did their work, their way and continued to take pride in a job well done.

Learn more about this author, Gretchen Lorraine Hillcrest.
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