employees and colleagues

col‧league S2 W2 AC /ˈkɒliːɡ $ ˈkɑː-/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[Date: 1500-1600; Language: French; Origin: collègue, from Latin collega, from com- ( ⇨ COM-) + legare 'to choose for a particular job']
someone you work with - used especially by professional people SYN co-worker:
a colleague of mine from the bank
She discussed the idea with some of her colleagues.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ colleague someone who you work with in a company or organization, for example someone working in the same office, or someone teaching in the same school: Friends and former colleagues described him as a kind and caring man. | She discovered that her male colleagues were earning more than she was.
▪ workmate British English someone who you work with. Workmate is more informal than colleague: He went out for a drink with his workmates.
▪ coworker American English someone who you work with: I was sad to say goodbye to all of my coworkers.
▪ associate someone who you work with, especially another businessman or businesswoman: They are close friends and business associates.
▪ staff all the people who work for an organization: The company employs a total of 520 staff. | a staff meeting

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

colleague

col·league AW [colleague colleagues] [ˈkɒliːɡ] [ˈkɑːliːɡ] noun
a person that you work with, especially in a profession or a business
• a colleague of mine from the office
• We were friends and colleagues for more than 20 years.
• the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues
Word Origin:
early 16th cent.: from French collègue, from Latin collega ‘partner in office’, from col- ‘together with’ + legare ‘depute’.
Thesaurus:
colleague noun C
• a colleague of mine from the office
partner • • contact • • co-worker • • collaborator • • teammate • • ally • • associate • |especially BrE workmate •
a business colleague/partner/contact/ally/associate
a political colleague/contact/ally/associate
a junior/senior colleague/partner/associate
Colleague or associate? Colleague is the most frequently used, and is the general word for sb you work with; associate is used to describe sb you have a business connection with.
Example Bank:

• I'd like you to meet a colleague of mine from the office.

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

colleague / ˈkɒl.iːɡ / / ˈkɑː.liːɡ / noun [ C ]

A2 one of a group of people who work together:

We're entertaining some colleagues of Ben's tonight.

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

colleague

/kɒli:g/
(colleagues)

Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.

Your colleagues are the people you work with, especially in a professional job.
A colleague urged him to see a psychiatrist, but Faulkner refused.

N-COUNT: oft with poss

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

colleague

col·league /ˈkɑːˌliːg/ noun, pl -leagues [count] somewhat formal : a person who works with you : a fellow worker
• A colleague of mine will be speaking at the conference.