How to Protect Yourself from Blame at Work

Creating a Paper Trail

Communicate with email. It’s hard to prove what you told someone in person or over the phone. However, it’s much easier to prove the contents of an email—you simply print it off. If possible, communicate with everyone using email. Use email with coworkers and your boss, but also with your clients and the public. If you need to have conversations in person, you can follow up the conversation with an email. Summarize the substance of the conversation. Avoid secretly recording people. The law on secretly recording people differs depending on your state. In a dozen states, you cannot record a conversation unless you get the consent of all people who are involved. It's usually better to communicate too much than too little. Try to communicate with your colleagues using multiple methods.

Require signatures when delivering items. Did you have something hand-delivered to another department? Did you mail something to a client? If so, you’ll always want signatures showing that the item was received. In the U.S., you can use certified mail, return receipt requested.

Ask your supervisor questions. If you don’t know how to proceed, ask someone higher up to make the call. If they get the call wrong, then it’s their fault. Send an email with your question and save a copy of their answer. You might hesitate to ask questions because you want to appear like you know everything. Nevertheless, you need to do something right, otherwise, you truly will warrant blame. Remember not to ask a question twice. Once a supervisor tells you how to do something, write it down so that you remember it. If you keep asking questions, you’ll look incompetent.

Inform clients of the risks of a decision. Sometimes you can get blamed when a client’s business decision doesn’t pan out. Although the client made the decision, they will claim you didn’t inform them of the risks. You always want people to make an informed decision, so explain risks thoroughly. Also have the client sign a form stating they have been informed of the risks. List the most relevant risks on the form. Hold onto the signed form in case the client claims later that you didn’t tell them of the dangers.

Building a Solid Reputation

Stay positive. You can weather false accusations if you have a strong reputation in the eyes of your boss and most of your colleagues. Begin building your reputation by maintaining a positive attitude. Smile and say “Good morning” or “hello” to everyone that you meet. Handle difficult coworkers delicately. Try to see issues from their point of view, which can help defuse tension and allow you to remain positive. Get enough sleep so that you are fully rested when you come in. Crabby people can be complainers. Some work environments are so toxic that you cannot stay positive. In that situation, you need to seriously consider leaving your job and finding another one.

Help out selectively. This depends on your workplace. Most people will appreciate the extra pair of hands when they are swamped. However, you don’t want to help out too much because it makes you look like you don’t have enough to do. Also pay attention to whether your coworker gives you credit for the work that you did. If they don’t, you should stop helping that person. However, if they do give you credit, then you can help them out in the future. They appreciate your help and don’t see you as a threat.

Keep your promises. When you tell a colleague you will do something, remember to follow through. Leave the excuses at home and make sure to fulfill your responsibilities. Consistently follow through will increase your credibility in other people’s eyes. Try to be predictably reliable. If you are, people will be less likely to blame you when something goes wrong.

Admit to the mistakes you do make. You’ll help build your credibility if you honestly admit your mistakes. People who always deny responsibility begin to look like liars. Instead, fess up. Say, “I’m sorry” and then explain the following: You understand the seriousness of the mistake. For example, you can say, “I realize this mistake might cost us the client account.” You know how it happened. For example, “I was preparing the packages for mail when Sue called and I got sidetracked.” You are taking steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again: “To ensure I don’t make this mistake again, I’ll let calls go to voicemail when I’m preparing our packages for mail.”

Maintain a professional digital presence. If you have social media accounts, make sure they reflect positively on you. Update your LinkedIn profile and remove offensive material from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Think about making personal accounts private. Google yourself as well. Look at the first page of results. You want that first page to reflect positively on you. It’s hard to remove negative information from Google. However, you can push it off the front page by publishing something in a newspaper or trade magazine. Alternately, you can volunteer and then write an article or give an interview to a local reporter.

Handling Accusations at Work

Listen calmly to the accusation. No one likes to be blamed for mistakes at work. When your boss calls you into their office, your heart might be beating in your throat. Try to relax as much as possible. Sit comfortably and take a deep breath. You want to remain calm so that you can hear the accusations. Try to write down what your boss has said you did wrong. You might not remember exactly what was said when you leave the office, so you need good notes. Remember not to immediately get defensive. Your boss might be too angry to hear you, either. Unless you are being fired, you should have time to go back to your office and gather your thoughts. If you didn’t do something, calmly say, “I didn’t do that.” Your boss might not hear you, but you need to say it.

Assess if you did contribute to the problem. “Blame” is a troubling word. It suggests only one person is responsible when things go wrong. However, many people might have contributed to the problem. Honestly, assess whether you are in any way responsible. If you are, then analyze what you could have done differently. When you fess up to the mistake, you need to explain how it happened and what you’ll do differently. Don’t blame someone else for the mistake either unless you have documented proof that they make the error.

Gather supporting documents. Hopefully, you’ve kept emails, notes, and memos that back up your story. Find them now and make copies. Remember not to give your supervisor originals of anything. Put the documents in some sort of order. If your boss told you to do something in an email—and that’s why you’re being blamed—then put that email on the top. Use a highlighter to highlight relevant information in emails and other documents. You can’t expect your boss to read through fifty pages of material to find what is relevant.

Talk to coworkers. Your coworkers can be great witnesses if they back up your story. One reason you want to build relationships with coworkers is for precisely these moments—you’ve been blamed for something you didn’t do. Talk to your coworkers and ask if they will talk to your boss on your behalf. You shouldn’t ask your coworkers to attend your meeting with your boss, because your boss might not assume they are telling the truth if you are in the room. Instead, they can meet afterward or summarize what they know in an email.

Remain focused on your work. Even as you begin to pull together a defense, you must continue to do your job well. Spend lunch breaks and after-work hours putting your defense together. You won’t be doing yourself any favors if you make a big mistake at work because your mind is elsewhere.

Meet with your boss. After a day or two, schedule an appointment with your boss. Everyone should have calmed down by now. You can gather your supporting documents and the names of the coworkers who have agreed to act as your witnesses. Open your meeting by summarizing what you have been accused of. Then segue into your side of the story. You can say, “I was just too emotional to tell you this yesterday, but now that I’ve had time to think, I want to share what happened.” Back up your statements with documents. You can say, “See, I have that email from accounting right here. Janet said that the account had $1,000 still in it. That’s why I spent the money.”