If you think you might be disciplined, you should collect information and learn your rights. You need to know what to expect. What you do before it happens can make it easier (or harder) to appeal afterward. It's not pleasant to think about getting fired, but being prepared can help.

If you are told you are on probation because of problems at work, you are being disciplined. You need to understand your rights in any discipline procedure at your work.

1. What are your appeal rights?
Be ready to use whatever appeal process is available to you. It often helps (and sometimes is required) if you take a claim to a government agency to show that you tried to use any available internal process to resolve the problem.
If you have a union, read your union contract and talk to a shop steward before you are fired or disciplined - early on when you know there's a problem. Pay attention to the deadlines to appeal discipline. The union can't protect workers from reasonable discipline, but can make sure you get due process and fair and equal treatment.
If you don't have a union, find out the company policy in the employee handbook or in a separate policy. Read about how discipline is supposed to work. Read about the appeal or grievance process. A few workers (usually specialized professionals or high-level managers) have an individual employment contract which may give them some protection.
Public workers (Federal, state, and local government employees) may be covered by Civil Service, which have rules on discipline and how to appeal.

2. Are you being discriminated against?
Are you being discriminated against because of your race, age, sex, what country you are from, or a disability? Did you get fired just before you could collect a pension? Are immigrant workers disciplined more often than white workers? Do women get most of the bad performance evaluations?

3. Is your boss getting back at you (retaliating) because of something you did?
Does it seem like you are being targeted because you filed a safety, discrimination, or harassment complaint; workers' compensation claim; tried to organize a union; or went to your boss with co-workers to complain? If what you did was protected by law, you may be able to prove that your boss is retaliating against you. Act quickly -- sometimes you have as little as 30 days to appeal when you are fired for retaliation.

4. Collect proof and bring important papers home.
When you have left your job, you won't be able to get the documents at work which prove that you were a good worker or that you were being treated differently from other workers. When you apply for unemployment insurance, your boss may change his story about why you left and you may need to prove her wrong.

  • Performance evaluations, letters praising you, attendance records, etc., can help in the future. If your boss lies when you try to collect unemployment or if he gives you a bad recommendation you can show what kind of a worker you were when you apply for a job.
  • Collect any documentation about the situation which you think you may be disciplined for. For example, if you are under pressure for production, any paperwork on the repairs to your machine which show that it breaks down a lot.
  • For more on what proof can help, go to the How to Document section.

5. Know the rules for unemployment insurance before you leave your job. It's tempting to say "You can't fire me, I quit!" but, that can make it harder to collect benefits you deserve. Understanding the rules ahead of time can help you collect unemployment and make sure you aren't disqualified.

6. Ask to see your personnel file. You need to understand what evidence the boss has and gather proof that you may need. There may be information in there that shows what your boss was thinking. It's a good time to check what's there, since you may see those documents again if you file for unemployment.

7. Find out what money you could collect if you lost your job:

  • Unemployment Insurance: some bosses fight even reasonable UI claims to because they know that if they discourage workers, many will just give up. Don't assume that you won't get UI just because your boss fights it. Apply quickly – in some states it can take over a month before you get your first check.
  • Workers' compensation: if you were hurt at work, you need to file a claim, even if you can still work with your injury. If it gets worse over time, it may be too late to file later.
  • Social Security Disability Insurance: adults who, because of injury or illness, cannot work for at least 12 months. Unlike the workers' compensation program, it does not require that your disability be caused by a workplace injury or illness.
  • Temporary or Long-term Disability Insurance: Some workers have benefits through disability insurance if they are unable to work because of a medical problem. Usually workers or their company paid for coverage. California, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island have disability coverage as part of unemployment insurance.
     

8. Find out your rights to your final paycheck. Sometimes bosses hold workers' last pay checks. There are rules in most states about giving you your last check.