NSW recording part of a conversation with employer?

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suzette

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12 June 2018
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My employer won't let me record our conversations regarding performance management but is not keeping accurate records of the meetings, and won't let me amend her meeting notes, which disadvantages me. Can I overtly record just my parts of the conversation without her permission as long as I turn off the recorder when she is talking? Not a secret recording. That way, the next time she denies that I said something or gets it wrong in her notes, I have a record to fall back on.
 

Tim W

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28 April 2014
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Your employer is not required to consent.
Make your own notes.

And join your union.
 

suzette

Member
12 June 2018
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1
Your employer is not required to consent.
Make your own notes.

And join your union.
thanks. Yes I take my own notes and I am in the union but the union hasn't answered this question for me altho I asked 3 times.
 

Tim W

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28 April 2014
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thanks. Yes I take my own notes and I am in the union but the union hasn't answered this question for me altho I asked 3 times.
Perhaps you're asking the wrong question.
Try asking them to send somebody along to assist you at the next meeting
 

suzette

Member
12 June 2018
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h
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Perhaps you're asking the wrong question.
Try asking them to send somebody along to assist you at the next meeting
Hi Tim,
I have asked multiple times to allow the union to be present during my meetings with my boss (teleconference) but the employer has refused. They eventually agreed that someone from HR attend as an observer but he is unhelpful when it comes to having an accurate record of the meetings - as I said initially my documented version and my boss's documented version of our discussions are quite different, and to my disadvantage, but the HR officer will neither confirm or deny the notes/amendments I make to the mtg record. Which is why I now want to use a voice recorder to record what I actually say. My boss keeps saying that I am 'making things up' and adding things to her mtg notes that I did not actually say during our discussion, but that simple isn't true. If the HR person hasn't got adequate listening or memory skills, or the integrity to be honest, and I can't have an observer/support person of my choice, I see no other way to have objective evidence for me but to use a voice recorder for what I actually do say.
Thanks, Suzette
 

Rod

Lawyer
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27 May 2014
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You can legally record the meeting you are part of as far as the Surveillance Act NSW is concerned, however recording without consent may be grounds for sacking as it shows a lack of loyalty to your employer.

If HR won't help, ditch them. Take your own notes at the time of the meeting, and take notes afterwards saying where the boss is wrong in their notes. Make sure your notes are part of the HR record.

Also check your award and contract to see what they say about performance meetings.
 
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