1. Mission Statement: Companies seek profits, of course, but they do so by fulfilling a mission for their customers. You need to understand that mission in order to know why you were hired and what your contribution is expected to be.

2. Customers: Every company exists to serve customers, and so does every job within a company. Know your company’s customers, even if you have no direct contact with them, and you will be able to do your job better.

3. Financial Condition: There is no better harbinger of your fortunes than those of your employer. If you work for a publicly held company, pay attention to SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filings, reports to analysts and trade press about your company. If your employer is closely held, you will have to rely on more subtle hints such as the ebb and flow of budget dollars and the grapevine of business successes and failures.

4. Chain of Command: You should know your boss, your boss’s boss and everyone else in your chain of command up to the CEO. If you do not know your place in the organization, it can be hard to tell where you stand. Know your boss’s allies and who might be trying to undermine him or her.

5. Health Insurance: The place to ask about your deductible is not the emergency room. You should know your primary physician, whether you need referrals to specialists, the cost of in-network versus out-of-network care if you are in such a plan, co-payments for prescriptions, dental and vision benefits, and the details of any additional aspects of your health plan. Health-savings accounts can complicate issues even more.

6. Retirement Plan: After health insurance, retirement-plan options may be the most complicated of all employee benefits. Your employer may offer a simple 401(k) or no retirement plan at all. You should know your options, how much you can contribute, your employer’s matching contributions, vesting periods and how your money is invested.

7. Your HR Rep: By now, it may have dawned on you that you need help understanding employee benefits and corporate policies. That is where your HR department can help. Take advantage of education classes or make an appointment to discuss particulars that are giving you difficulty.

8. Drug and Alcohol Policies: Almost every company has a written policy prohibiting use of drugs or alcohol at work. Some reserve the right to test employees under certain circumstances or at random. It can pay to know these policies, what appeals processes are available and the consequences of refusing testing.

9. Public-Statement Policies: A growing number of employees are surprised to learn that what they post on their Web pages or social-networking sites matters to their employers. Policies about public statements that reflect upon the employer’s reputation are increasingly common.

10. IT Help-Desk Contact: Who are you going to call when your computer crashes or you cannot access the network? Help-desk staff can save you hours of frustration and downtime. Their phone numbers should be pasted to your computer monitor.

11. IT Acceptable-Use Policies: Most companies tolerate a certain amount of personal use of corporate IT resources, including personal phone calls. But they take very seriously activities that slow down the network for everyone, downloading pirated music and installing unauthorized software that may infect the network with a virus. Also, employees should never view adult or objectionable Web content at work.

12. How to Request Supplies: Whether you need a stapler or a new computer, you should know the procedure for requesting supplies. Do you have to go through your boss, or is there a central supplies hot line? What paperwork is involved?

13. Smoking Policy: Even if you do not smoke, you may want to know where your employer allows it so you can avoid those areas. If you smoke, you may find some companies ban smoking during business hours. A few firms even forbid smoking on your own time.

14. Grievance Procedure: Sometimes a grievance with a supervisor or a co-worker cannot be resolved informally. At such times, it is important to know how to begin a formal grievance procedure. Often, it starts in the HR department.

15. Disciplinary Procedures: Supervisors must know what disciplinary options are available to them, from informal admonitions to termination. Workers should know what each form of discipline means to them, and the consequences of further need for discipline.

16. Fraternization Policy: Office romances happen. Most companies have policies forbidding fraternization between supervisors and subordinates. Others have more stringent policies. Before you start a fling, consider the potential consequences.

17. Vendor Relations and Gifts Policies: In order to avoid even the appearance of undue influence upon business relationships, many employees are forbidden to accept gifts from vendors in excess of some nominal amount. You should know if such policies apply to you.