For people who help people
A free resource for the people you see after a job loss
Tax professionals, career coaches, worker organizations and legal aid educators often meet people in the week their job ends. This page gives you one link and one printable sheet to hand them.
What it is
Right to a Final Copy is a California public-interest campaign and a free training center. It explains, in plain language, what happens to paperwork when a job ends: separation agreements, review periods, final pay, records requests and the clauses people commonly ask about. It is general information, not legal advice, and it points people to legal aid and agencies for advice about their own situation.
What to share
- righttoafinalcopy.org/kit: the first-week kit, one printable page.
- righttoafinalcopy.org/play/triage: five questions that show the general timelines in the law.
- righttoafinalcopy.org/tools/records-request: a ready-to-send letter for personnel and payroll records.
- righttoafinalcopy.org/articles: short answers to the questions people search for.
- righttoafinalcopy.org/watch: six short explainer videos with captions and transcripts, one in Spanish.
A video for HR and people teams
Read the transcript
HR leaders: can departing employees open what they signed? A separation agreement can arrive as a PDF. Then a revised PDF. Then a signing link. Then the work login closes, and the signed copy goes with it. California already requires a copy of signed employment documents. Upon request. Many teams send it without waiting for the request. Three habits for a clean exit: mark every change before anyone signs. Answer questions with a name and a date. Send the final signed copy automatically, in a file that opens without your systems. The agreement they remember isn't the one that counts. The one they signed is. Share this with your people team.
For employers · 0:41
For HR and people teams
Why departing employees often cannot open what they signed, and three habits for a clean exit: mark changes, answer with a name and a date, send the final copy.
Why it is safe to share
- Free. No account, no sign-up, no paywall.
- The checklists and calculators run in the visitor's browser. Nothing they type is sent anywhere.
- Every example is a fictional story. The site does not name or accuse any company.
- Every page says it is general information and links to free and low-cost help.
A short blurb you can paste
Losing a job in California? This free first-week kit lists the four dates to write down, what to do today and this week, and what to check before signing a separation agreement. No account needed: righttoafinalcopy.org/kit
Tell us how it goes
If you share it with clients or members, a short note helps us improve it:hello@righttoafinalcopy.org. Please do not send anyone's personal information.