Organise your evidence before you lose it
Save the right documents before your work email and chats are cut off.
Why does the order of saving matter?
Access to work email, chat groups and internal systems can be cut off the moment your employment ends, sometimes the same day. Save what you can before that happens, starting with the items hardest to recover.
The employer carries the burden of showing your dismissal had just cause, so your records exist to test their account, not to build the whole case alone.1
What should you save first?
Start at the top of this list and work down, because the first items are the ones you are most likely to lose.
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Your termination letter, show cause letter or any written notice, saved as a photo or forwarded to a personal email immediately.
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Your employment contract and any letters of appointment, confirmation or promotion.
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Recent appraisals, especially positive ones from before the dismissal, and payslips for at least the last twelve months, to show your last drawn salary and length of service.
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Relevant chat messages or emails, screenshotted in full with visible dates and names, not cropped to a single line.
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Names of colleagues who saw key events, noted privately without asking for statements yet, plus any policy, handbook or memo about what happened, such as a retrenchment notice.
What should you do with your result?
Put everything in one folder, named by date, and keep a copy somewhere outside company systems, such as a personal drive or printed file.
Do not alter, annotate or delete anything, since the original version of a document is worth more than an edited one.
Once your folder is complete, read what evidence and documentation matters. Check the deadline calculator too, so your saving does not eat into the 60-day window.
How can a lawyer help from here?
A lawyer looks at what you already have and tells you which gaps matter and which do not.
They can also advise on how to request further documents from your employer without weakening your position. If you want that help, request lawyer contact first; only after an identified independent lawyer has contacted you and specifically requested the material, send a list of what you have and an independent lawyer can reply about whether and how they can act.
Common questions
What if I already lost access to my work email?
Check personal devices, printed copies and any messages you forwarded before losing access. Colleagues who received the same emails may also have copies, though ask carefully and avoid pressuring anyone still employed there.
If the employer must prove its case, why do I need evidence?
Because your evidence still shapes what the employer has to answer and how the case is argued. Good records make it harder for an employer's account to go unchallenged.
Sources
- The burden of proof lies on the employer to show that a dismissal was for just cause and excuse. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
Keep reading
Once your documents are sorted and you are considering a claim, an independent lawyer can review what you have. They can act for you if it is a case they can take on.
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.