Tactics for Employees - Keeping Records

You get hired by the company. It’s exciting, your first day on the job. Eager to make a good impression, you don’t want to anger anyone or make a mistake.

Don’t make the error of thinking that you shouldn't be covering yourself.

One of the most important things you can do is to keep a record of events.

You don’t have to note down everything, but the major stuff could help in the long run.

Keep a private record of your time.
Buy a notebook, even if it’s a small pocket one. DON'T use company materials.
Get in the habit of daily logging your hours.
Note anything unusual in the operation of the business.
Log instructions or comments by your co-workers or boss that could be considered illegal, immoral or anything else approaching questionable practices.

DON’T TELL ANYONE AT WORK YOU ARE DOING THIS!

Many companies will fire you for this type of activity. It’s very easy to get terminated without cause in many states.

When I worked as a technical writer, I used to keep a log of all the work I was doing on my desk. It was the only way I could track the different books, art requests, phone calls, etc. that was necessary for writing the books. Keep emails for at least a year after the project is completed.
I had one save my job and my company over $26,000 in rework when it proved that the client’s project manager had dropped the ball on giving me the proper title for the book I wrote for them.

When I was illegally fired, I took all my log books to court. It made the difference in my winning my court case. When the company appealed the court verdict, I won again in court.

As long as you keep your records, take them home with you and don’t use them to intimidate or harass co-workers, you will have a good line of defense.

Now, if you do lousy work, goof off and expect to have the records somehow clean up your act, you have another problem.

You’re dreaming.