Something is going wrong at work. A meeting you didn't fully understand. Hours cut. Pay short. Something said to you that you haven't stopped thinking about since.
You don't know yet whether this ends in a grievance, a dismissal, a tribunal claim, or nothing at all. Almost nobody knows at the start.
Start the record anyway. It costs nothing, it commits you to nothing, and it's close to impossible to do properly after the fact.
Why the record matters more than it sounds
When something is disputed at work, it usually comes down to two accounts of the same events. Yours and theirs.
Theirs will be written down. ACAS guidance says employers should keep written records of a disciplinary or grievance case — what the complaint was about, what was decided and why, whether anyone appealed. Meetings get minuted. A file gets built.
If your version exists only in your head, you're not on level terms. Not because anyone is lying — because six months on, a dated note beats a memory every time.
ACAS gives workers the same advice directly. Its guidance for anyone facing bullying or discrimination recommends keeping a diary or record of what's happened: what happened, how it made you feel, dates and times, any evidence such as emails or screenshots, and any witnesses.
What to write down
For each thing that happens, capture six things. It takes about five minutes.
- Date and time. Not "last week". Tuesday 14 July, about 2.15pm. If you're unsure, say so in the note — "early afternoon, I think" is honest and still useful.
- Where. The floor, the office, the van, the video call, the group chat.
- Who was there. Everyone, including anyone who walked past or came in halfway through. Most bullying happens with no witnesses at all — ACAS says so plainly, and it shouldn't stop you reporting it — but where there were people, name them.
- What was actually said. Real words, in quote marks, where you can remember them. "You're on thin ice" is evidence. "He threatened me" is your conclusion about it. Keep the two apart.
- What happened next. Sent home. Asked to sign something. Followed up by email an hour later. Nothing at all.
- How it affected you. Couldn't sleep. Went to the GP. Stopped using the canteen. This is on the ACAS list for a reason — the effect on you is part of what happened.
Keep facts and feelings in separate sentences. A record that reads like a witness account gets taken seriously. One that reads like an argument invites someone to argue back with it.
Write it the same day
This is the part people get wrong, and it's the part that matters most.
Memory is not a recording. The Equal Treatment Bench Book — the reference work used daily by judges in England and Wales — notes that even an honest witness's evidence can be affected by a genuine but inaccurate perception of an event, by loss of recollection, or by wishful thinking. That's not a comment on anyone's integrity. It's how memory works, for everybody.
A note written the same evening isn't a memory. It's a document. Months later you're not straining to recall what was said — you're reading what you wrote when you still knew. Five minutes on the day beats an hour three months later.
What to keep
Notes are half of it. The other half is the paperwork that already exists.
- Emails and messages, both directions. Including yours — a polite email asking for something in writing is often the strongest thing in the file.
- Letters. Meeting invitations, outcome letters, warnings, suspension letters, anything on headed paper.
- Payslips. You have a legal right to an itemised pay statement showing gross pay, every deduction and what it was for, and net pay — plus hours worked, if your pay varies with time worked.
- Your contract, and the policies as they stand today. The disciplinary, grievance, sickness and bullying policies in force now. Handbooks get rewritten. Save or photograph the current version.
- Rotas, timesheets, shift changes. Screenshots are fine.
- Fit notes, occupational health reports, referrals.
- The good things too. Appraisals, targets hit, thank-you emails. Most people keep only the paperwork that upset them, which quietly turns their own file into the employer's case.
Where to keep it
Off the work laptop. Off the work email account. Off the company drive. Access to all of it can be switched off the same morning you're suspended or dismissed — usually before anyone thinks to ask whether you've got what you need out of it.
Forward things to your own email as you go, or photograph them on your own phone. Steadily, not in one panicked evening.
One line to stay on the right side of: take what is yours, not what isn't. Your own emails, your own payslips, documents you were given or sent, policies you're entitled to see — all fine. Copying customer records, colleagues' personal information or commercially confidential material is a different thing entirely, and can create a brand new problem on top of the one you have.
Things you're entitled to ask for
Some of the record isn't yours yet. You can go and get it.
- Copies of meeting notes. The ACAS guide to discipline and grievances says copies of meeting records, including any formal minutes, should be given to the employee. If you weren't given them, ask in writing — and keep the request.
- Your own data. You can make a subject access request for a copy of the personal information your employer holds about you. The ICO says you can ask verbally or in writing, you don't need a solicitor, it's normally free, and the response is due within one month — extendable by up to two further months if the request is complex.
- Written reasons. Told something significant in a corridor? A short email saying "just to confirm what we discussed today" turns a conversation into a document.
The five mistakes that cost people their record
- Waiting until you're sure. The moment you're certain you need a record is usually the moment the details have already gone.
- Not dating anything. An undated note is a strong opinion. A dated note is evidence.
- Keeping only their version. A folder of warning letters and nothing else is their case, filed by you.
- Recording meetings secretly. ACAS says any decision to record should be agreed by all parties, and that a covert recording may be treated as a misconduct matter or a breach of trust and confidence. Ask instead — and take written notes either way.
- Posting about it. Social media isn't a record. It's a second dispute waiting to happen, and it will be read back to you.
Put it in order
However you keep it, keep it chronological. Oldest first, one entry per event, each with its date at the front.
This isn't tidiness for its own sake. A union rep, an ACAS conciliator and an adviser all work the same way: they want the sequence. A timeline gets read in ten minutes. A carrier bag of undated printouts gets read as "we'll come back to this".
Name your files by date while you're at it — 2026-07-14 invite letter beats scan_0042 in six months' time.
One thing worth knowing about timing
Tribunal deadlines are strict, shorter than most people assume, and they run from the date the thing happened — not from the date you worked out it was a problem. You don't have to decide anything about a claim to start a record. Just know the clock exists, because it runs while you're deciding. Our guide to employment tribunal time limits sets out the dates.
Not sure where to start? Start with the record.
Stewrd is an AI workplace companion for UK workers — built by a former union rep and branch secretary. It explains where you stand in plain English and builds a private, dated record as you go, straight from your phone. Ready to hand to a rep, ACAS or an adviser when it matters.
Know your rights. Record what matters.
Common questions
Do I have to tell my employer I'm keeping a record?
No. Your own notes about what happens to you at work are a private thing you do for yourself. ACAS recommends it openly to workers facing bullying or discrimination. It isn't a hostile act and it doesn't need announcing.
Is it too late if it happened weeks ago?
No — write it now. Note the date you're writing as well as the date of the event, and say honestly where you're unsure. Never backdate an entry to make it look like you wrote it at the time. A late, honest note is worth having; a note that turns out to have been dressed up is worse than none.
Can I record a meeting on my phone?
Ask first. ACAS says any decision to record should be agreed by all parties, and that covert recording may be treated as misconduct or a breach of trust and confidence. Ask for the meeting to be minuted, take your own notes during it, and ask for theirs afterwards.
What if I've got no witnesses?
Most of this happens where nobody else can see it. ACAS makes that point about bullying specifically, and says it shouldn't stop you reporting it. Your own notes, written at the time, are what fills that gap.
Does keeping a record mean I'm going to make a claim?
No. It commits you to nothing, and most people who keep one never bring a claim. It's just as useful for a first call with a rep, for raising a grievance, or for working out for yourself whether things are as bad as they feel.