Record time, role, and pay separately
Keep a calendar of missed shifts, reduced hours, modified duties, unpaid leave, and return dates. Preserve job descriptions, schedules, pay rates, and employer communications. A change in hours, a medical restriction, and a change in earnings are distinct facts.
Collect records that can verify earnings
Depending on work status, useful records may include pay statements, W-2 or 1099 forms, tax returns, commission reports, invoices, contracts, leave balances, and bank records tied to business receipts. Protect identifiers when sharing working copies.
Connect restrictions to the timeline
Keep written work notes or restrictions from treating providers and communications showing when an employer received them. Do not ask anyone to change a record. Request clarification through the ordinary process when wording is unclear.
Handle self-employment carefully
Separate gross receipts from net income and ordinary business variation. Preserve calendars, cancelled work, customer communications, invoices, expenses, and comparable prior periods. Ask a lawyer or financial professional which measures matter.