Back to Understanding Your First Payslip
11+payslips

Keeping Work Records

Explain why keeping personal records of hours worked and pay received is essential protection in any paid work arrangement — and describe what a useful record should contain.

In this lesson

Keeping Work Records is part of Understanding Your First Payslip. This preview shows how payslips connects to everyday family decisions such as earning, saving, spending choices, goals, approvals, or parent-guided money conversations inside Progress Penguin.

Think about this money choice

Femi's employer asks him to work extra shifts but keeps no written record of his hours.

How it works

When an employer does not keep written records of hours worked, the employee must keep their own. Personal records — a dated log of start time, end time, and tasks completed — are the primary evidence in any hours dispute. Without them, a disagreement about hours becomes impossible to resolve in the employee's favour.

Apply it to a real decision

Real-life money moment: Femi works extra shifts but his employer keeps no written record. At month end, the employer says Femi worked 38 hours. Femi is certain he worked 44. Without a personal log, he has no evidence. His word against the employer's record means the employer's figure stands — and Femi loses 6 hours' pay.

Activity preview

Choose the best money move

Use what you just learned. Choose the option you can explain.

Try one real money action

Open Tasks and submit proof for one task, or open Requests and make a deposit request. Parent approval can happen later.

Quiz preview

Keeping work records matters because:

They provide evidence of hours, pay, and performance in disputes
Employers legally require your personal records submitted monthly
Work records automatically increase salary at next appraisal
Banks require work records before approving any financial service

Most valuable item to keep as a work record:

A personal diary of work thoughts from each day of employment
Business cards and meeting notes from external events attended
Signed timesheets, payslips, and written employment communications
Only the most recent payslip since older records are irrelevant