Colleague has asked for a favour

[confusedwwyd]

Basically he feels he is being discriminated against by the company we both work for - he wants to take it further and has asked if I will be an "impartial observer" and take notes for him in a meeting he is trying to sort out with the management. I have said I will, but I'm not sure if I will be a bit out of my depth with it - has anyone else done this before?

[holidaysarenice]

I know its an awful thing to say but I would want to stay the hell out of it and protect myself.

Some discriminatiion is real, much is not. Do u want tarred with the shit stirring brush? Can u nicely remove urself by suggesting he should use a union rep etc

[PractialJoke]

What is your feeling on the matter? Do you agree with him/are you on his side?

You're not there as an expert or to give advice, just to take notes so there's not reason to feel out of your depth.

If the system is that you are an impartial observer and the fact is that you are properly impartial and the company know that, I think you will be OK, but I would share holiday's concerns.

[PrincessFlirtyPants]

I wouldn't do it personally, I know that sounds awful.

If he has concerns he should raise them through the correct channels and not implicate his colleagues.

I would record the meeting if i was him, if it wasn't a DPA breach etc. there's no way I would ask a colleague to do this.

[PractialJoke]

It's standard practice to have a colleague sit in on disciplinary or difficult HR meetings IME. Especially where there's no union involved.

He's not implicating his colleague, he's asking someone to take notes of a meeting. Not that big an ask really.

[whereareyou]

I have done this. You are there just to take notes. You could speak to a manager beforehand to allay any concerns you may have.

Can be difficult to get everything down as people speak.

Any decent firm should have a written policy on raising a grievance and as a note taker nothing negative should be taken from your role. I think it is quite sad if people are afraid to support the people they work with as long as they are following the correct way of raising their concern/grievance.

[Vatta]

It's totally standard to ask a colleague to take minutes, it doesn't imply at all that you are taking his side or agree with him!

All you have to do is write down what they say. I think it would be a bit mean to refuse honestly.

[Unexpected]

I agree with PracticalJoke. If he has raised a grievance he will have been offered the opportunity to bring a colleague or union rep with him to the meeting. Bringing a friend or family member is not an option. You are only there to take notes, not to raise questions of your own. Any company worth its salt will realise your role in the process and will appreciate that your position on the issue is not in question or in any way relevant to proceedings.

[PrincessFlirtyPants]

Duh! Please ignore me I'm clearly not with it! I thought the colleague had asked you to take notes on a normal internal meeting to prove they were being discriminated against.

My post is therefore rubbish... Ignore ignore ignore.

[confusedwwyd]

thanks everyone i feel better about it now ... i dont really know much about his siuation certainly not enough to make a judgement on it. so as long as everything is factual then i should be ok.

[confusedwwyd]

thanks everyone i feel better about it now ... i dont really know much about his siuation certainly not enough to make a judgement on it. so as long as everything is factual then i should be ok.

[Unexpected]

Sometimes it actually helps not to know too much about what is going on, makes it easier to just record what you are hearing without inadvertently putting your own spin on it or having to resist the temptation to prod your colleague so they don't forget bits!