As a general rule, you should attend any session prepared for the possibility that an employee will secretly record it and that the recording may still be admitted as evidence in court, even if you have asked the employee not to record the conversation. After conducting a disciplinary hearing and, if applicable, an appeal hearing, you must decide whether the allegation of secret recording is well-founded and, if so, whether it is misconduct or serious misconduct. They must also decide whether disciplinary action is warranted. If someone makes a recording in secret without asking, or after you have denied permission, this is generally considered misconduct and may even constitute gross misconduct that warrants termination. You should talk to an employment law specialist about your desire to welcome someone to work if you can. Talk to a labour law expert about undercover cases The Employment Appeal Tribunal said it disagreed that the tribunal should find that it was a breach of the implied condition of trust to secretly record a meeting. They said that employees have various reasons for recording such meetings and that it cannot be assumed that they did so solely to gain a dishonest advantage. The court was correct to consider all the circumstances, including the purpose of the recording, the employee`s culpability (she was not told not to record the meeting), and the content of the recording. You should consider at all times what is fair and reasonable, taking into account all explanations for the alleged misconduct as well as mitigating circumstances. For example, an employee who has recorded a meeting to make a transcript for his or her own records, where there is absolutely no intention to use or misuse this information against the employer, is clearly not as culpable as an employee who secretly records a meeting to lure his or her employer into the trap of prosecution. Telecommunications systems include the telephone network, the computer network and the Internet. Therefore, it is illegal to intercept conversations that take place through these media.
With respect to the assessment of their remuneration, Phoenix House argued that their remuneration should be reduced on a “fair and just” basis because they had secretly made this recording and said it was serious misconduct. They argued that their compensation premium (a benefit based on future loss of earnings) and their basic premium (a benefit calculated on the basis of seniority, age and salary) should be reduced because of their conduct prior to dismissal and that, had they known of the admission, they would have had the right to dismiss them for serious misconduct. You may want to include in your disciplinary proceedings a note that an employee should not record meetings or conversations without the knowledge and consent of others involved, as this undermines trust and can be treated as misconduct. If one of your employees makes an undercover recording of a conversation at work in the UK, they are likely to be in breach of company policy and could be guilty of wrongdoing. And if they welcome colleagues to work, they risk destroying any working relationship they have had with those colleagues. However, problems can arise if these recorded conversations are passed on to third parties without the consent of the participants. It is a criminal offence to sell or publish conversations recorded in the conversation without the participant`s consent. For more information on recording workplace coverage, call 0845 22 55 787 The employee must voluntarily give consent for every conversation you record – never assume that someone who has consented to you recording a conversation will automatically consent to someone else`s recording. Examples of serious misconduct generally include physical abuse, theft or fraud, misuse of property, or serious insubordination. However, what constitutes serious misconduct can often depend on the context in which the behaviour takes place. Your workplace might even have its own policies or rules, with specific prohibitions for certain types of misconduct.
The staff member must ask for your permission prior to admission, and you may choose to authorize it. In the case of employers who secretly register their employees at work, the courts will likely judge these actions very badly, so never be tempted to do so.