This is super important when it comes to employment. Please please please cover your butts. I mean this with any kind of communication, conversations, witnesses, information, literally anything you can think of to prove something might or might not have happened. Use texts, emails, even metadata on photographs, to get timestamps of when something occurred.
I want to give an example that saved my butt: I work in a correctional facility. Anything I do on my computer is electronically tracked (so they stated), along with phone conversations. There was a time I believed a Nurse was giving out incorrect doses of medication. The way meds work is there are pills in a packet, individually packaged so each pill is “popped” out of it, like those old school mentos or whatever back in the day. Anyway, the individual receiving the meds believed he was given the wrong dosage and spoke to the nurse, myself as witness. Nurse stated numerous times she knew what she was doing, to take the meds and move along. I wrote an email to myself just giving a basic blurb of “this occurred on this time, heres all the info” and sent it.
YOU CAN SEND EMAILS TO YOURSELF FROM YOUR OWN EMAIL!!
Two days later said individual has a wicked adverse reaction to medication. Says he told Medical staff and nothing was done. He called multiple Officers at witnesses and the Nurses. The Officers can't remember so their “testimony” is kind of useless. Nurses deny he ever said anything. Individual calls me as a witness, so my word against Nurses. Nurse won… until I dropped the timestamped email. Guess who is still employed.
Long story short, document anything and everything. If you think an employer is stealing tips, email or text, some kind of timestamped documentation. Manager giving you conflicting orders or ones you think are illegal, voice your concerns via email or text if you can. If you see horrible work conditions, take a photo and attach it in an email. Anything you can do to cover your butt, seriously do it.