I was wondering if anyone knows if it is legal to record a phone conversation. Without one the other person knowing it's being recorded.
My situation is I need to prove to my boss that my co worker is trying to sabotage me and my other co workers. We have had many meetings at work about this and the boss just won't believe anyone. So I would really like to get the proof on tape, and I want to make sure I can do this without getting in trouble.

That is against the law, the other parties must know and agree to being taped.

I believe it actually depends on state law. Some states it's legal, some it's not.

I was told that you can get it on an telephone answering machine and then it is legal. Because when people call your house they know that you have an answering device. Not sure how true it is though.

I don't think it's legal to record a telephone conversation without the knowledge of all people involved. Of course, that's not to say that you can't do it and present it to your boss. (S)he (or anyone else) just can't use it as legal evidence in court. Letting him/her hear a taped conversation may get him/her to realize what you and the others have been trying to make him/her realize ; (s)he just won't be able to fall back on it as a legal defense should the occasion arise, e.g. if (s)he fires the coworker in question and the coworker takes him/her to court over it.

bushg is correct. It depends on the state. Some only require that one party consents and others require that all parties consent. States that require all parties typically have stiff fines and some even have criminal statutes with potential jail time for violating the law. There can also be potential federal violations. Be careful and check the law in your state before you even consider taping someone.

Hell, id do it, only if it was for reasons in court, for example; harassing messages left on your voice mail. Hope I helped...

I don't think I would do it.. unless there calling you directly with threts.. it is invasion of privacy no matter how you look at it and corts tend to froun on that.. so up to you but I don't think I would take that chance has to be another way somehow... srry not much help

The U.S. federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call. A majority of the states and territories have adopted wiretapping statutes based on the federal law, although most have also extended the law to cover in-person conversations. 38 states and the D.C. permit recording telephone conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so.

12 states require, under most circumstances, the consent of all parties to a conversation. Those jurisdictions are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington.

It is illegal under all jurisdictions to record calls in which one is not a party.

A complete state-by-state set of regulations regarding telephone call recording may be obtained in the following report published by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:

State-by-state summaries

Note that Florida requires the consent of ALL parties.

Okay it sounds like recording a phone conversation can get in in too much trouble, does anyone have any ideas on what else I can do to show the true colors of my co worker. Help please, Thanks

Try and get him to say what your expecting him to say by phone in an email.

Once it's in your inbox it's your property.

Yes e-mail once in your inbox is your property. However, there may be a slight loophole here. If you are talking using your company's INTERNAL phone system, since that is a private system not a public one, the company could give you permission to record the conversations. I would expect your company would want to cvheck with their legal advisoprs first, but it's a possibility.

Well I don't even know his email, and we have never talked on the phone. In my job we are independent contractors so we work for a company name, but we have to get our own clients and the situation is this man is telling everyone how he is better and more qualified at the job then everyone else, and it's not true. So he is taking business away from all of us, making us loose money. My original plan was to call him as a fake client and record what he said about me and the other co workers. The boss just sees him as a money maker because he's taking all of our business. But the rest of us see him as a creep. Any other ideas?

Do you have an HR dept? At the last company I worked out we had loads of IC's and we had a database that listed all of their info. You could always call them and say that you need his email they should have no problem giving it to you.

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Originally Posted by GlindaofOz

Do you have an HR dept? At the last company I worked out we had loads of IC's and we had a database that listed all of their info. You could always call them and say that you need his email they should have no problem giving it to you.

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No we don't have a HR dept. I am an independent contractor so I have the manager who is also owner and he the ones that can do anything. I don't work in an office in a normal work setting.

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Originally Posted by happylady123

In my job we are independent contractors so we work for a company name, but we have to get our own clients and the situation is this man is telling everyone how he is better and more qualified at the job then everyone else, and it's not true. So he is taking business away from all of us, making us loose money.

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Ok let me see if I understand this, you both work for the same company as ICs, but he is calling other ICs customers saying he can do a better job? Where do you get the customer's contact info from?

Would this be considered pirating?

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Originally Posted by ScottGem

Ok let me see if I understand this, you both work for the same company as ICs, but he is calling other ICs customers saying he can do a better job? Where do you get the customer's contact info from?

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The customers come into our business, he's not getting there contact info. We both teach a sport, so the clients come into our work and if me or another co worker speak with them about doing lessons he will wait until we walk away or go over to them after we have taught them a few times telling them he can take them farther.. blah blah blah, and it's bs. But these people they believe what they want to.

Are you earning commission?

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Originally Posted by J_9

Are you earning commission?

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My job gets the commission they get 25% of what I make.