No!

Does sexual harassment only happen in formal 1-2-1s ? Is this really where the employment relationship has got to that everything needs to be recorded? Should we all wear body cams 24/7?

Managers should have multiple interactions with their teams both formal and more often informal. Coaching, training, guidance and advising. Surely it can’t be suggested all this is recorded?

How many hundreds of hours of “evidence” would this produce? Sorry I just thinkthus is a terrible idea and one I Hope is a long way off if ever

This is where the concept of reasonably belief comes in. You investigate. You examine all the evidence and then you decide.

In reply to Keith:

hi Keith, thanks for your response. I agree that this is not where I would like to see the future of working relationships go. But in this #metoo era we are in a situation where an accusation can be seen as proof in itself that the act took place. It would protect both employees from harassment (I doubt anyone would get 'handsy' if they knew they were on camera) and would also allow a robust defence if there were any spurious claims. We live in a society covered by CCTV, I see cyclists wearing dashcams - why should the employment relationship be any different?

Sorry if it seems I'm trying to be a bit controversial, but it does seem to be the logical next step. Otherwise, we can be in a position of ruining reputations, careers and marriages on the basis of 'he said, she said.'

In reply to Daniel:

In my view it is neither logical or the next step. But I wont repeat the reasons set out above.

You say you were given options as to how you'd deal with it. Were any of the options given to record the meeting? I'd be very surprised if so.

As well as #metoo there was another hashtag a while ago that your post made me think of for some reason and it is #ibelieveher

In reply to Samantha:

No there wasn't an option to record the meeting, just to conduct an investigation. It got me thinking about how one could carry out an investigation about what actually happened in a room with only two people present. Unless there was actual physical evidence of an assault then I don't see how it could be ascertained if one was actually committed. The manager alleged that the employee took umbrage at the performance targets that he set. You could investigate if these were unreasonable, but ultimately it's a serious accusation which is hard to prove or disprove.

That #ibelieveher thing is really dangerous I think. The idea that a woman should automatically be believed just because she is a woman is actually rather patronising, but it also hands women a very powerful weapon to use against men. If any female employee can raise a serious allegation against a male manager and automatically be believed then we are heading down a very dangerous road. Hence my (reluctant) suggestions that there should be an openly-disclosed webcam in the room for private meetings.

In reply to Daniel:

But the point I think you are missing is you don't need to "prove" beyond reasonable doubt if an assault took place or not. But simply on the evidence you gather form reasonable belief. You can do this far easier than most people think.

BTW I have sat as a magistrate where often there is CCTV evidence and it is rarely as conclusive as people think. (and its amazing how often the CCTV goes wrong)

In reply to Keith:

We've seen in the recent Kavanaugh case in the US that very important decisions can come down to who is the most convincing actor? If there are no witnesses and no physical evidence, then it comes down to 'reasonable belief' but then what do you base that on? I would rather not live in a world where every interaction has to be recorded, but to protect the employee and the manager then I think it's the way we are going.

In reply to Daniel:

The Kavanaugh case has little to do with law and everything to do with politics. It mattered little who was the better actor (or even what the "facts" were)and everything with where the balance of power lies in a Congress up for a mid term election. The case also shows that the incidents that give rise to these types of allegations rarely arise in neat interview situations but in other places and at other times.

Also it shows that sometimes it takes months or years for allegations to arise - meaning that even if you did record it (which would be IMO awful) you would have to keep thousands of hours of material for many years. The data protection implications themselves would be enormous.

It does little to actually protect either party and everything to fundamentally change and pollute the employer/employee relationship.

I see absolutely no evidence that it is the way we are going.