Feeling taken advantage of at work? Here’s what you need to know.

When did you last feel taken advantage of at work? Did your boss call you on your day off, or ask you to take notes at the staff meeting, again? Did your coworker take credit for your work? Were you asked to work overtime but not paid for it?

If you’re one of the many workers experiencing these scenarios, it can feel like there’s no choice but to grit your teeth and bear it. Perhaps you can’t afford to lose your job, or you fear workplace retaliation. You may feel embarrassed, angry, or simply exhausted. You may not know how to speak up.

We hear these concerns directly from texters:

“I feel like my employer is taking advantage of me by making me do work of four people and blaming it on [the] pandemic. It doesn’t seem right.”

“I feel like I am doing my boss’s job part of the time and not getting any credit [...] I'm sick from the stress. I just feel so angry and resentful and taken advantage of.”

Feeling taken advantage of can negatively impact work, life, health, job satisfaction, and more.

It’s a vicious cycle that hurts many hard-working people and adds unnecessary stress and frustration to the workplace.

At Empower Work, we believe you have the right to feel valued, supported, and empowered at work—and if we’re here to help you make that a reality.

I think I’m being taken advantage of at work, but how can I know for sure?

The first step is to trust your instincts: chances are good that, if you wonder whether you’re being taken advantage of, the answer is probably yes, something is off. Sometimes it can be subtle, and other times more overt.

Regardless of what form it takes, feeling undervalued or taken advantage of can have real consequences—financially, emotionally, and professionally.

Lack of Respect and Recognition

For many people, feelings of being taken advantage of can stem from experiencing a lack of respect and recognition at work.

One texter shared:

“I work a 3am shift. I do my best. I work harder than anyone on the floor. Why should I work hard at all if they don't appreciate me? I work 2 jobs and still get so much done.”

A lack of respect can be experienced in many different ways. For example:

You’re not getting credit for your work, or someone else takes credit for your work
You’re regularly expected to take on tasks that others at your level are not
You’re constantly expected to pick up your coworkers’ slack
Your time off (evenings, weekends, vacations, etc.) isn’t respected
Your boss or coworkers never say “thank you” when you go above and beyond

In one recent survey, 77.4% of respondents reported feeling taken advantage of at work at some point. The most common responses? Having to do tasks outside of their job position, having to cover for coworkers more than a reasonable amount, and having to take on tasks that others didn’t want to do.

Maybe one person is piling too much on your plate, or your whole team expects you to pick up the slack. Sometimes it’s intentional, and sometimes it’s not. Whatever the case, it’s not okay.

Bias and Microaggressions

Sometimes, feeling taken advantage of at work is more than just disrespect—it can be part of broader patterns of bias or microaggressions.

Unglamorous, service-type tasks, like ordering coffee or cleaning up after meetings, can often fall to women and people of color. This labor, sometimes called “office housework,” is largely unseen and can take valuable time and energy away from other work. Office housework can also include administrative tasks like taking notes in meetings or coordinating schedules, or emotional tasks like smoothing over egos.

“Glamour work,” on the other hand, gives an opportunity to build skills, have facetime with leadership, and position to a new promotion. Studies show that women and people of color, on average, have less access to glamour work and do more office housework than their white male counterparts.

If you’ve found yourself in this situation, you know it can be exhausting to feel taken advantage of at work in this way.

Wage Theft

In some cases, employers take advantage of workers by failing to pay them the full wages they’ve earned for the hours they’ve worked. This is known as wage theft—and it’s illegal.

There may be wage theft in your workplace if:

Workers are being paid below the legal minimum wage in their state. In the 10 most populous states, 2.4 million workers are losing $8 billion annually because they’re being paid an hourly rate that’s lower than the states’ minimum wage. Immigrant workers are twice as likely to earn less than minimum wage compared to their non-immigrant counterparts.
Workers are not being paid for hours they work. 10% of employers admit to shaving time off of worker’s timesheets, resulting in around $22 billion being taken out of the pockets of hourly employees each year.
Workers are not being paid time and half when working overtime (more than 40 hours in one week).
Employers are taking illegal deductions from paychecks.
Workers are not being paid in a timely fashion, or at all.

Wage theft can have serious consequences for workers, their families, and more. We’ve heard from texters who are worried about being evicted, and embarrassed to show their timesheet to their place of residence if they’ve been working but not getting paid. For so many workers, every dollar counts, and no one should have to fear eviction or worry about whether to pay for groceries or gas.

More broadly, wage theft can further widen economic disparities. Workers who experience minimum wage violations are far more likely to be in poverty than the other minimum-wage-eligible workers: among the 2.4 million workers experiencing minimum wage violations in the analyzed states, 517,000—or 21.4 percent—had total family incomes below the poverty line.

What can I do?

Taking action is an important way to protect your mental, physical, and economic wellbeing. After all, workers who report always feeling taken advantage of at work also report the lowest work/life balance score and the lowest level of job satisfaction of all workers.

The good news: there are always actions within your control.

Based on the specifics of what you’re experiencing, there are likely several different options available to you. Perhaps you want to strategize how to have a conversation directly with your manager, or the person not respecting your boundaries. Perhaps you’d rather go to HR. Perhaps it makes sense to file a report with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. While recent reports have found that only a small number of reported cases have action cases, it is still important to document wrongdoing.

Empower Work is here to help you explore options. Trained peer counselors are a text away, ready to listen, provide resources to help you feel more in control of your situation, and support you in taking the next step.

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*Note: Empower Work provides non-legal support for workplace challenges. This information, while authoritative, is not legal advice or guaranteed for legality. Employment laws and regulations vary by state. We recommend consulting with state resources for specific interpretation and decisions. If you believe you were discriminated against in violation of the law, we recommend you seek legal advice.