I also make copies of pay slips (at least the first and last of every company I worked for, and the last of each year) ; could be usefull for claiming pension rights.

Or for IRS ....

It may not have a real legal value, but it's at least a good point to start when trying to retrieve that kind of info, if the original papers burned with the house ....
It's far more easy to get copies of original documents, if you at least have references/dates/aso.... to start the search.


alain