Good records can be the difference between a strong case and one that falls apart. In disability discrimination disputes, where so much often comes down to what was said, when, and by whom, a clear record of events is one of the most useful things you can have.
This page covers what to document, how to keep it, and what to do if you have not been keeping records until now.
Why records matter
Employment Tribunal cases, and grievances, turn on evidence. Your employer will have records. They will have HR files, management notes, email chains, and policy documents. You need records too.
Discrimination cases often involve a pattern of behaviour over time. Individual incidents that seem small in isolation can be significant when seen together. A record helps you see, and show, that pattern.
Records also help with memory. When you are dealing with a stressful situation over weeks or months, it is easy to lose track of exactly what happened and when. Writing things down at the time means you are not relying on recollection later.
What to record
Incidents of discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment For each incident, note:
- The date and time
- What happened
- Who was involved, names and job titles
- What was said, as precisely as you can remember it
- Who else was present
- How you felt, and any impact on you
Try to write this down or make a voice note as soon as possible after the event, while it is fresh in your mind.
Requests you have made for adjustments For every adjustment you have requested, formally or informally, note:
- What you asked for
- When you asked, and how (email, meeting, phone call)
- Who you asked
- The response you received, and when
- Whether the adjustment was ever actually made
If you made a request verbally, follow it up in writing as soon as possible: “As we discussed this morning, I am requesting…” This creates a written record of something that might otherwise be disputed.
Your employer’s responses Keep copies of all written responses from your employer, emails, letters, outcome letters from HR, meeting notes. If your employer sends you anything in writing, save it somewhere safe outside of your work email account if possible. Setting up a new email account that you ONLY use for forwarding emails for record keeping is a good idea.
Your own health and its impact at work You do not need to keep a medical diary, but it can be useful to note times when your condition has affected your work, or when you have had to take time off, and the reasons why. This can support the case that your employer knew or ought to have known about your disability.
Witnesses If a colleague witnesses something relevant, note their name. You will not always be able to ask them to give evidence, but knowing who was there is useful.
How to keep records
Keep your records somewhere personal and secure, not just on your work computer or in your work email, which you may lose access to suddenly if your employment ends. Options include:
- A private email account (send records to yourself)
- A personal cloud storage account – apps like Notion or Evernote can be good for creating a timeline and storing documents.
- A password-protected document on a personal device
- A paper notebook kept at home
Whatever you use, back it up.
Contemporaneous records, notes made at the time, or close to it, will carry more weight than accounts written weeks or months later. The closer to the event, the better. Do not rely on your memory being able to recall things later.
Collecting documents
Alongside your own notes, collect and keep copies of any documents relevant to your situation, including:
- Your contract of employment
- Your employer’s disability and reasonable adjustment policy (if they have one)
- Your employer’s absence management policy
- Any occupational health reports or letters
- Any Access to Work assessments or correspondence
- Medical letters or reports that relate to your workplace situation
- Any performance reviews, appraisal documents, or correspondence about your work
- Any correspondence about disciplinary or capability processes
If these documents are on your work systems, save copies to somewhere personal before your access is at risk.
Subject access requests
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to request a copy of all personal data your employer holds about you. This is called a Subject Access Request (SAR).
Making a SAR can be a useful way of obtaining documents you would not otherwise have access to, including HR notes, management correspondence about you, and occupational health referral notes. Your employer has one month to respond.
You do not need to give a reason for making a SAR. You can make one at any stage – before, during, or after a dispute.
Be aware that your employer may redact information relating to third parties. And making a SAR can signal to your employer that you are preparing for a dispute, which may affect how they behave. Think about timing.
If you haven’t been keeping records
It is never too late to start. Begin now.
Write down everything you can remember, with as much detail as you have, about what has happened so far. Note the dates as accurately as you can, and be clear where you are uncertain. An honest account that acknowledges gaps in your memory is more useful than a reconstructed one that fills them in.
If writing things down is difficult for you, you can make voice notes for transcribing. If you find it difficult to order your thoughts, a transcript of a rambling voice note or explaining the situation to a friend or union rep can be put into a private AI account to help structure your thoughts and words.
Look back through your personal email, calendar, and phone for anything that might help establish a timeline, messages to friends or family about what was happening at work, calendar entries for meetings, medical appointments.
Check whether you have any work emails in a personal account, or documents you may have forwarded to yourself.
A word on collecting evidence
There are limits on what you can do to gather evidence, and some methods can cause problems even when the underlying claim is strong.
Recording conversations without telling the other person is not illegal in England and Wales, but covert recordings are treated with caution by Tribunals and may not be admissible. If you are considering recording meetings, think carefully and get advice first. You can ask for meetings to be recorded as a reasonable adjustment if you would have disability-related difficulties in taking your own notes in a meeting, or a disability-related reason for needing an exact transcript – for example, limited capacity for typing or writing during the meeting, whether because of physical impairment or cognitive load of note-taking and participating, or because of communication impairments and a need to process things more slowly. Employers will trypically have a member of HR present to take notes, but it is likely to be reasonable for you to request a verbatim transcription of a meeting for disability reasons.
Do not take confidential documents that belong to your employer, for example, documents about other employees, or commercially sensitive information, even if you think they might be relevant. Doing so can undermine your case and may expose you to other legal risk. You can share confidential documents with a legal advisor or Union rep, but sharing more widely or accessing documents without consent, could result in lawful disciplinary action.
→ Next: ACAS Early Conciliation
This page provides legal information, not legal advice. It reflects the law in England, Scotland, and Wales.