You should always collect the documents and paperwork associated with your termination from your job if you were fired or laid off. If you plan to sue your employer for your job loss, it is crucial to document the decision-making process that led to your termination.
Whether or not you choose to challenge the legality of your firing, you will have a better chance of protecting your workplace rights if you keep a record of what took place before and after your termination. You will typically need to prove that you were fired at the behest of your former employer if your former employer challenges your claim for unemployment benefits.
Gathering Documentation in the case of a Wrongful Termination
You can document the circumstances surrounding your firing by following these tried-and-true methods.
- Document Everything Involved in Your Wrongful Termination
Even though no official regulatory action has been taken against you, you can take action if you believe anything has gone horribly wrong in your connection with your boss. Keep track of all work-related events, including performance assessments, recognitions or disciplinary actions, income raises or decreases, and even casual comments from your boss about your work.
Keep a record of the event’s date, time, and location, as well as who was present and whether or not there were any witnesses. Back up your log with evidence wherever possible, such as printouts of employment policies, memos, or reviews.
However, always double-check that you have legal access to these documents: If you take material your employer considers privileged or otherwise off-limits, you could end up in legal problems later, especially if you file a lawsuit contesting your termination.
Obtain a copy of your personnel file and all reports it contains. You should mail an extra copy of your personnel file to yourself by certified mail if you fear someone will tamper with it after you take legal action. This way, you will have dated evidence of what the documents looked like before tampering was occurring, should matters heat up later or should a legal battle become necessary.
- Get Your Termination Explained in Writing
In the event a wrongful termination lawsuit is needed, you might want to ask your former employer for a written explanation of why you were terminated so you can see if their reasons match your own thoughts.
- Ask for a Service Letter
Some jurisdictions have legislation requiring companies to provide letters to former workers outlining specific parts of their work, such as their work records, pay rates, or grounds for termination.
If you live in a state where service letters are required but your previous employer hasn’t provided one, send a formal written request for one. Requesting service letters may be subject to a time constraint in some states. If at all feasible, make your request within a day or two of being fired to ensure that any deadlines are met and that the passage of time does not impact people’s memory. Send a certified letter to your employer with your request for a service letter.
When you request a service letter from a former employer, you are requesting the complete truth and nothing but the truth. However, dismissal reasons are subjective, and you may be fired for a variety of reasons. The information you read might not appeal to you. There is even a possibility that you will sue for defamation over what is written in the service letter.
Several jurisdictions, however, specifically insulate employers from defamation charges based on what they wrote in a service letter. Most legislation requires a former employer to give a “truthful” or “in good faith” service letter before they can claim this protection.
If you live in a state where a service letter statute does not exist, your employer may not provide you with a written justification for your dismissal. If this happens, request a formal explanation of the company’s decision to fire you from the person who officially informs you of your dismissal.
If your boss declines to provide you with written evidence of the grounds for your termination, you may have to wait a long time and perform extra effort to acquire it. If your state is one of the majority that does not require service letters, there isn’t much you can do at the time of your termination to make the move. If you file a wrongful termination claim, you may be able to learn the facts why you were fired through statutes that grant employees access to their personnel files or through the discovery process.
- Prepare a Letter of Understanding
If you are unable to obtain a service letter, you may wish to write a letter of understanding to the individual who terminated your employment. This is particularly imperative if you were given contradictory information when you were terminated.
Although you should send your letter of understanding as soon as possible, it’s usually better to let it sit for a day or two after you’ve written it. Then go over it again to make sure you’ve kept it concise and appropriate. Send your letter of understanding via certified mail so that you can show it was delivered to the company.
- Gather Additional Documentation Related to Your Termination
Other significant pieces of documentation for your termination may arrive in the days following your termination. If you make an unemployment compensation claim, for example, your previous employer is required to react to your claim. Your employer’s statement will ultimately be translated into a statement that you will receive from your local unemployment insurance office, and it should explain why you lost your job.
Regardless of how or when proof of your termination arrives, you should keep all pertinent records in a secure location, such as a file folder or even a shoebox, where they will not be lost or destroyed and where you can quickly access and arrange them.
If you don’t want to fall into the complexities of looking after each and everything related to proving your wrongful termination, contact your employment lawyer in Los Angeles at Siman Law Firm for a free consultation.