A layoff fundamentally changed how I perceive work

Damn I was part of may the 4th lay off from Shopify. They locked me out instantly from my crucial immigration related document on my work laptop, and there was no help whatsoever. Very ugly. Still remember.

Name and shame, good. Only when we name the perpetrators, we can help others avoid bad employers, of which there are way to many already.

Was it on your work laptop for a reason?

Good reminder, never mix work and personal. Or at the very least maybe use a cloud service or a thumb drive.

Was also laid of from Qantas when my dad died from cancer 2 months ago, I'm still flabbergasted by it

In many countries, a number of visas are employer bound or sponsored, so there's a wide array of reasons why some relevant documents might live in the corporate sphere. Depending on policy, you might not be allowed to transfer it to a personal device. There are often many more documents to a visa than just the visa itself.

> Depending on policy, you might not be allowed to transfer it to a personal device.

That's true, but it makes it all the more reason that you want to get that squared off ASAP while you have infinite access to HR/a manager to help you rather than scrambling to try and do it while the clock is ticking on access to your machine/the building etc.

Well, the person who decided to lay you off probably didn’t care enough to know, if that makes you feel any better.

40 years ago an autobody shop near me (where I lived at the time) went bankrupt. The employees came to work in the morning and the door had a new lock. It was 6 months before they could get their personal tools back. Mechanics provide their own tools, so this meant they couldn't really get a new job (or could but only after investing thousands in tools that they already owned but couldn't access).

this is why I regularly back up important documents to my personal computer. payslips, w2's, etc. never know when you might be terminated and lose access.

Even if it was a sponsorship, I find it strange that you can’t have copies of the immigration docs so that you can at least explain to immigration what’s going on. I’d imagine there is case number or something that you could keep?

Otherwise what happens? You can’t even explain or prove your current situation? Seems draconian.