Organizational politics has emerged as a prevalent and detrimental factor within organizations, significantly impacting employee behaviors and outcomes. Drawing upon the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study investigated the relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational politics (POPs) and their counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). The study posited that job stress (JS) mediates and perceived distributive justice (PDJ) moderates this relationship. Data were collected from employees in five-star hotels and category (A) travel agencies in Egypt through self-administered questionnaires. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using WarpPLS v.8 was employed to analyze the data from 394 valid responses. Results indicated a positive association between POPs and CWBs, as well as between POPs and JS. Additionally, a positive relationship was found between JS and CWBs, supporting the mediating role of JS. Furthermore, the study revealed that PDJ negatively moderates the relationship between POPs and CWBs. This research contributes to the existing literature by identifying and examining the mediating role of JS and the moderating role of PDJ in the relationship between POPs and CWBs, providing novel insights into the mechanisms underlying this complex phenomenon.