What to save before access ends
Your work access may close within hours and you need to know what to save.
What should you save before losing work access?
Act quickly, because access to work email, HR portals and chat groups can close within hours of a dismissal. Save your contract, recent payslips, performance reviews and any warning letters first, since they are hardest to get later.
Screenshot or forward messages and emails about your dismissal to your own account. The employer must still prove just cause, so your evidence supports a challenge and does not need to prove everything alone.1
What do people forget to check?
Shared drives, project folders and chat groups are often missed in the rush to save the termination letter. Calendar entries and meeting notes can help build a timeline, and a quick check takes minutes.
Move fast through these places, because shared systems often close with your main email. Save only what documents your own situation, not confidential company or client material.
What should you do right now?
Work through your work email, HR portal and shared drives, in that order. Take a moment to breathe first, since a short focused burst works better than an anxious scramble.
A friend or family member can help you go through your accounts calmly and catch what you miss. Once the basics are saved, you can slow down.
What comes next?
Confirm your filing deadline with the deadline calculator, since the 60-day window runs from the dismissal date.2 Then read the fuller evidence checklist to check nothing important is missing.
If you want to bring a claim, an employment lawyer can organise what you saved into something useful and act on it if there are grounds.
If you have saved what you could and want to bring a claim, an independent employment lawyer can review it and take the claim forward if it is worth pursuing.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.
Common questions
How quickly does work access actually get cut off?
It varies by employer, sometimes the same day and sometimes after a short delay, so treat it as urgent. Act within hours of your dismissal instead of assuming you have days.
Is it a problem to forward things to my personal email?
Forwarding your own reviews, contract and relevant messages for your records is reasonable. Do not forward confidential company or client information unrelated to your own employment.
What if I have already lost access?
Some records may still be requested later through a formal request to your former employer, but that is slower and less certain. Write down what you remember as a starting point.
Should I take screenshots or full downloads?
Screenshots are quick for messages and short documents, and downloads work better for longer documents such as appraisals or contracts. Use whichever is fastest for the time you have.
Sources
- The burden falls on the employer, not the employee, to prove the dismissal was for just cause or excuse. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
- A worker has 60 days from the dismissal date to lodge a written representation with the Director General of Industrial Relations. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
Keep reading
If you have saved what you could and want to bring a claim, an independent employment lawyer can review it and take the claim forward if it is worth pursuing.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.