Taking the Fall.

As a “Young Professional,” whatever that may mean, I recently stumbled into a situation that’s been on my mind for the last week or so:

Should a Junior employee knowingly take the fall for a mistake a Senior employee made?

Now, this isn’t meant to be undermining in any way, truly. I realize that superiors take hours to train new employees. They are patient and deal with what feels like a million mistakes made by Junior employees. But after years of being a “big picture” person in a department, Directors/ Managers/ Supervisors become less detail-oriented, understandably.

I was recently put in a situation where a superior was working on some routine business and simple mistakes were made. Being the new chick in the office, it was assumed that I made the mistakes. I was lectured a bit and given a slap on the wrist but never revealed that I didn’t make the mistake.

I’m looking for a bit of insight on the subject, seeing as I’m fresh into the professional world. What’s protocol for a situation like this?

Is it more beneficial to accept it and move on or keep a clear reputation?