What to do if you find yourself in a situation at work
1. DO NOT lose your temper or lose control of your emotions. Maintain your professional balance at all times.
2. DOCUMENT the situation as soon as it happens. We recommend keeping a “work journal” to record situations that arise. Be sure to include the date, time and place of the incident, as well as people involved and details about what happened. (DO NOT store your work journal at work!) Try making a chronological list of what happened.
3. CONTACT an AFT Officer regarding what happened. If an AFT Officer is not available or you do not know who it is, wait until you have a chance to call AFT. Make sure that you are making the call at an appropriate time (ie: NOT during class or office time)
4. KNOW what kind of contract you are on. Single-year and multi-year contracts have different rules that apply. Non-contract employees also have different rules that apply.
5. DO NOT compose anything in writing for your supervisor or administrator while you are upset, especially e-mail. Once you hit “send” you cannot take it back. Let AFT advise you before writing a response to a write-up.
6. DO NOT sign a pre-prepared admission of any kind or a pre-prepared resignation letter before contacting AFT.
7. DO sign documentation that is given to you. You signature does not admit agreement. It only serves to show that you have received it. If you prefer, you may write under your signature “My signature indicates receipt of this document, however does not indicate agreement”.
8. If you are called into a meeting with an administrator, bring a pad and pen and take good notes! Call AFT for advice before the meeting if possible but in the event that it is not possible, call us after the meeting to discuss what happened.
9. DO NOT engage in gossiping about your situation or people involved.
10. A rule of thumb is to “comply now and grieve it later”. If you refuse to comply with a directive you may end up compounding a situation that could otherwise have been easily resolved.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Call AFT Lone Star right away! DO NOT wait until the last minute! The earlier we are aware of your issue, the better.
Click here to download a PDF of these tips with a sample documentation entry
AFT Lone Star:
281-889-1009