Paid for a special title because this is extremely important.
I've just discovered that my boss may have some signals misfiring in his brain which has caused 2 good friends and coworkers of mine to be fired for ridiculous reasons.

I'm a designer for the company and the project I'm working on is currently only accessible by me on my computer at work (an iMac - hold your cries of rage disgust).
I want to change this and have it not accessible (directly) on my work computer. I want to be able to do all my saving/work on a physical hard drive (which I already have), but I want to have several other back up options just in case (preferably online, free or low-cost).
This way if I ever get fired, I take all the work I've done with me and have at least a leg to stand on if it comes to fighting for my job or a severance package.

Any suggestions/help you can give me would be excellent. You should note that I also own a macbook pro; however, that may not be around for much longer (old and not incredibly reliable).

Thank you all in advance!

That's their property. I'm not sure if you'll face criminal charges, but if it's not, you can get sued over that.

This so much. Look over the contract you signed, there's a very small chance they didn't claim it.

If they're idiots: dropbox, Google cloud, just cloud
Assume you can hookup your own hd

In the United States at least everything you do on work's time is considered sole property of your employer regardless of who did the work. They will pursue criminal charges against you if you do this and they will, without a shadow of a doubt, win. If they don't do that, they will definitely file civil charges on you for damages and basically you'll be paying them every red cent you make for the rest of your life.

Re-think this plan and start dusting off your resume. Don't be a dumbass.



Even if there isn't a specific wording in his contract the work is still theirs by default.

This post was edited by rockonkenshin on Jul 7 2013 07:05am

the best you could prob get away with (and even this might get you into hot water, contact an attorney) is perhaps "secure" your workstation (if you have the authority to do so) in such a way it would be "difficult" for someone else to use it....

If they are smart they will ask for your credentials so others can work on the project you were working on when they let you go. If they are dumb, well they won't. If they fire you without severance, just walk the fuck out.

Personally I would just make a copy of documentation you might need if you get into a dispute with the company later, but leave them their stuff.



This post was edited by Azrad on Jul 7 2013 07:42am

My reply was at 2am so I wasn't thinking very well. You're right here, as long as the work was done on company's time, or it could be any of his personal time if it's in the contract he signed.

I don't live in the US and I'm not on a legally binding contract. In fact, I'm not really on a contract at all, so none of what any of you said above applies. I'm not an idiot!

Ok, have downloaded, installed, and sync'd Google Drive. This seems like a good idea, but I want to be able to protect access to this folder. I cannot explain the context of my job or why there is no contract, but there isn't and my boss would have absolutely no legal legs to stand on if I do this. I'm not paid very well, and it's a protection policy for myself because I've worked my ass off on this project.

This post was edited by Flood on Jul 8 2013 05:00pm

Are you actually from Guatemala? If so very cool, I've been there a couple times, spend most of my time in Belize while I'm in Central America though.

No one will have access to your google drive if they don't have your account credentials, not sure about your folder on google drive though if you install it onto the computer.

Then get your boss to pay for the project and just quit. Negotiate with your boss that you'll give him the project for a fee. Approach him first before he makes up his decision of firing you. You say the pay is not very good, people are getting fired for no real good reason, no contract, get yourself out of that situation and find a different job for now.