Recording a counseling/disciplinary meeting

[magtwo]

What is the name of your state? CA


I have an employee to whom I need to administer a written counseling. I have a meeting scheduled, but need to know if I can get into legal trouble if I record the meeting discreetly; that is, without the employee knowing.

The main reason for this is twofold; I want to protect myself from any accusations, and I want to be able to dissect the conversation at a later.

I fully expect this meeting to be very dramatic, based on the employee, and the reason for the disciplinary action. That is the main reason I do not want to set a tape recorder out in the middle of the table.

Thank you for any help.

 

[justalayman]

California's wiretapping law is a "two-party consent" law. California makes it a crime to record or eavesdrop on any confidential communication, including a private conversation or telephone call, without the consent of all parties to the conversation. See Cal. Penal Code § 632.

it would appear it would be illegal.

 

[magtwo]

I was afraid of that. Written record, it is. Thanks for your help.

 

[justalayman]

maybe if you explained you would like to record the meeting to protect the employee. It makes them feel like you really care about them.

the recorder itself could also cause the meeting to be not so dramatic as well. A lot of people tend to have better control of themselves when they are aware their words/actions being recorded.

 

[Beth3]

What is the name of your state? CA


I have an employee to whom I need to administer a written counseling. I have a meeting scheduled, but need to know if I can get into legal trouble if I record the meeting discreetly; that is, without the employee knowing.

The main reason for this is twofold; I want to protect myself from any accusations, and I want to be able to dissect the conversation at a later.

I fully expect this meeting to be very dramatic, based on the employee, and the reason for the disciplinary action. That is the main reason I do not want to set a tape recorder out in the middle of the table.

Thank you for any help.

Have someone else from management (your HR person?) sit in on the disciplinary meeting. Then you'll have a witness to everything that was said, should your employee later make any false accusations.

 

[xylene]

Why don't you just fire your out of control employee?

 

[Beth3]

If only it were that easy sometimes...

There are many reasons why it's necessary for an employer to follow progressive disciplinary practices and create documentation of same before terminating an employee. For example, if the employee alleges he/she was terminated due to their race, religion, age, handicap, etc. Unless the employee had engaged in egregious misconduct where immediate termination was appropriate, an employee can be in a world of hurt in attempting to refute a discrimination complaint without documentation of progressive discipline.

 

[xylene]

If only it were that easy sometimes...

There are many reasons why it's necessary for an employer to follow progressive disciplinary practices and create documentation of same before terminating an employee. For example, if the employee alleges he/she was terminated due to their race, religion, age, handicap, etc. Unless the employee had engaged in egregious misconduct where immediate termination was appropriate, an employee can be in a world of hurt in attempting to refute a discrimination complaint without documentation of progressive discipline.

That is a good line of reasoning.

I suppose the point of my comment was that something about this managers desire to secretly tape a meeting appeared to be coming from a less noble place concerning the best interest of the company.

 

[Beth3]

Could be. Or perhaps the manager is being unnecessarily cautious. Or perhaps this employee has a history of making unfounded allegations.

Anyway you look at it, taping the conversation is a bad idea. Having a member of management sit in as a witness is definitely the way to go and quite commonplace.