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Recording Collegues

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fraserjim1958 | 19:19 Tue 05th Jan 2010 | Civil
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Is it illegal to record conspiring collegues on ones mobile phone?
Apart from being bullied my daughter felt she was beingcalled a number of nasty names etc
so decided to leave her mobile phone on desk and leave the room
all her fears were confirmed and recorded she then confronted her embarrased supervisor who actually cried at what she heard herself say
anway my daughter was dismissed for recording collegues can they sack her?
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how long has she worked there? An employee can be sacked for any reason in the first year
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i don't think that is correct redhelen
please see buenchico's answer here re:recordng conversations
http://www.theanswerb...6.html#answer-2206267
therefore it is not against the law
her employment contract may say something different though, although it wont make any difference if she's worked there fr less than a year
I see that Bednobs has referred you to one of my previous posts while I've been typing my latest one. (So I apologise for any repetition). It's in two parts because of AB's length limit:

Redhelen's post isn't entirely accurate.

It is indeed a criminal offence to record a telephone conversation without notifying the other party. However it's not illegal to record other conversations covertly. If the phone was simply used as a MP3 recorder, there was no breach of the law. I always carry a voice recorder and frequently record conversations I have in pubs and shops. I also used to be a union rep and always covertly recorded meetings with management, when representing other members. Such recordings are perfecty lawful (and long may they remain so).

If your daughter had been in her post for less than a year her employers could sack her for any reason (or for no reason whatsover) without fear of the consequences. (There are actually a few exceptions to that rule but they're not applicable here).
When someone has been in post for a year or more an employer can still dismiss them without good cause, but the employee can then seek compensation (and/or their job back) through an employment tribunal. (It should be noted that an employer can never be forced to re-engage the services of an employee. If the dismissal was ruled to be 'unfair', the empoyer could simply opt to pay compensation instead).

If it may be assumed that this incident was not at the end of a sequence of written warnings, the only valid reason for dismissal would normally be one of 'gross misconduct'. It seems unlikely that an employment tribunal would regard your daughter's actions as such, thus making her dismissal 'unfair'. An alternative argument that an employer might put before a tribunal would be that your daughter's actions had resulted in a 'loss of trust' in her ability to do the job. (Such an argument is normally used, for example, when an employee does something out of working hours which makes them unsuitable for continued employment in their current post).

See here:
http://www.direct.gov...Dismissal/DG_10026692
and
http://www.direct.gov...b/Dismissal/DG_175834
and
http://www.direct.gov...tribunals/DG_10028122
(In particular, note the ACAS Helpline number. It can take ages to get through but it can be worth the wait).

Chris
Question Author
only been employed 6 weeks
boss recorded describing her as b**ch and little wh**e
could she sue for defamation?
not practicably, no.
she hasn't actually lost anything as a result of the boss calling her a ***, therefore there is nothing to be compensated for. She will just have to swallow it i'm afraid
im very sorry for your daughter, i hope her confidence is not too dented by this. how awful to go to work feeling convinced your colleagues b$tch about you behind your back. shes best off away from these nasty pieces of work, who probably have low self esteem themselves and can only feel better when they try and make someone else feel inadequate. good luck to her for the future.
As the previous answers have said she can't do much about it.

What sort of business is it? Can the conversation be coppied and sent to everyone at work? even if it has a messgae 'Watch out for your work mates... you never know what they are saying about you'.

It won't do anything productive but it would make me feel better!!!

Mind you would you want a reference from them? and what was the actual reason for your dismissal?

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