One of the common themes on the employer screwed me over posts are people that don't have copies of their employer's (often former employer's) HR policies, nor have they ever read them. Read and understand them before they affect you. Then save electronic copies of the policies. Also make sure to save back-up copies to Google drive or other cloud storage.
These policies might be called an employee handbook. They might be an intranet site. It might be paper book in the break room. It might be called a P&P (policy and procedure) document. If you don't get a copy that you can keep, take legible photos and save the images.
Some key topics to focus upon are:
- Termination and related programs such as severance
- Attendance, tardiness, job abandonment, Overtime
- Time off from work such as Vacation, PTO, Sick days, holidays.
- Leave of Absences and related laws like FMLA
- Disciplinary actions aka Performance Improvement Plans (PIP)
- Rules for promotions, & bonus programs
- Sales commission schedule and rules for anyone in sales.
- Anything else that impacts your pay
Employers and bosses routinely bend and break policies. Knowing and having copies of your employer's policies might not prevent it from happening. However, judges, government agencies, lawyers, and other 3rd parties are less tolerant of rule breaking.
It could be the difference between getting something vs. getting nothing when things go sideways.