If an employee requests to record a disciplinary / grievance meeting – can you refuse this?

Employers are entitled to refuse permission for employees to record disciplinary / grievance meetings. It is, however, good practice for a “record keeper” to be present at such meetings in order to take a contemporaneous hand-written note of the proceedings. And whilst the employee may wish to have their own witness at a disciplinary hearing to take notes, they cannot insist on actually recording the meeting.

In practical terms, it may be prudent for employers to ensure that their disciplinary procedures or staff handbook expressly prohibit employees from recording such hearings. This can be a useful exercise for establishing the “ground rules” for the conduct at hearings. At the start of