HR Investigation Meeting Notes Template (Free to Copy)

An HR investigation meeting notes template needs eight parts: case details, who is present and why, the points you read out at the start, each question with the answer in the interviewee's words, documents shown, questions they did not answer, a closing check, and a statement they review and sign. Copy the free template below. It works on paper.

Recording is optional. If you want the exact words, give notice first and ask counsel first, because a recording changes who can ask for what later. We make an AI notetaker, and further down we say where ours fits, including the parts we would not rely on in an investigation.

Use one note per interview, per person. Select the table, copy it and paste it into Word, Google Docs or your case system, then fill in the right-hand column. Put the case number in the file name, not the allegation or anyone's name.

Acas, which advises employers in England, Scotland and Wales, lists what an investigator should explain at the start: who is present and why, their role, the purpose of the meeting, the need for confidentiality, that a statement might be used in an investigation report, and who will see it. It makes a good script wherever you are.

1. Who is here: "I am [name], the investigator. [Name] is taking notes." Name any companion and their role.
2. What this is: a fact-finding meeting about [topic]. No decision is made today.
3. What it is about: put the allegation plainly, or for a witness, the events you want to ask about.
4. How it is recorded: "I am taking written notes." If you record, say so now and ask each person to agree out loud.
5. Confidentiality: what they should keep to themselves while the investigation runs, and your rule against retaliation for taking part.
6. Who sees what: their statement may be used in the investigation report, and [who] will read it.
7. Breaks: they can ask for a break at any time.

One row per question. Write the question as you asked it, then the answer. Mark each answer Q when it is their exact words and P when it is your paraphrase.

Part of a witness interview. The case, the people and the answers are invented.

1. Ask open questions and write them down as asked. A leading question ("He was shouting, wasn't he?") makes the answer worth less, and your notes will show it.
2. Write answers in their words where you can, and mark what is paraphrase.
3. Write what you saw and heard, never a conclusion about credibility or motive.
4. Log silences, refusals to answer and breaks, with the time.
5. Name every document you show by title and date, so nobody argues later about which version it was.
6. One interview, one note. Never merge two people's answers into one record.
7. Finish the notes the same day and sign them off with the time.
8. After sign-off, never overwrite a line. Add a dated correction below it.

Acas describes a witness statement as usually a signed copy of the meeting notes, and says the person should get a copy shortly to check and confirm that it is accurate. A clean process:

1. Type up the notes within a day and send them to the interviewee with a date to reply by.
2. Take their changes as additions. Keep your original line and put their version next to it, with the date.
3. If they dispute a line and the meeting was recorded, play that moment together before anyone signs.
4. If they will not sign, write that down, with the date and any reason they gave.
5. Keep all three versions: your notes, the version with their changes, and the signed statement.

The template is complete without a recording. A recording gives you the exact words, and it adds duties. Check three things before you press record.

• Your policy. Some AI notetaker policies exclude HR meetings. Our own policy template puts HR, performance and disciplinary meetings on its do-not-record list, with exceptions approved in writing.
• Counsel. If a lawyer runs or advises on the investigation, ask before any recording or AI tool. Littler, a US employment law firm, warns that sharing privileged discussions with a vendor may risk waiver, and suggests limiting AI note-takers where legal advice is discussed.
• Agreement. Acas says an organization can record the meeting if its policy allows it and the worker agrees, that any decision to record should be agreed by all parties, and that a covert recording might be treated as misconduct or a breach of trust.

A recorder with no bot shows nobody anything, so telling everyone before you start is your job. In California, recording a confidential conversation without the consent of all parties is an offense, in person or by phone (Penal Code section 632). In Germany, recording someone's non-public spoken words without authorization is a criminal offense (section 201 of the Criminal Code). Rules differ by country and state, so check the rules where everyone in the meeting is.

Your notes put what was said in your words. A recording and its transcript hold the person's own words, in full, and several rules treat that difference as important.

Here is how Reline fits. It captures your microphone and the computer's audio locally on Mac, Windows, Linux (beta) or in the browser, and no bot joins. Transcription, AI and storage run in the cloud. Reline transcribes while it records, so it cannot transcribe a file from another recorder. The recording is kept, so you can press play on any transcript line.

• In a room, everyone arrives through one microphone, so there is no speaker separation you can rely on. The beta Shared mic option (under Who is on this microphone) numbers the voices, and you name them yourself. It is an estimate, not proof of who spoke. Listen before you quote anyone.
• On a video call with you alone at your computer, your side (Me) and the call's side (Other) come from separate audio streams. A companion on the interviewee's side lands on Other with them.
• Before the interviewee signs, play any disputed line together.
• Anyone with edit access can change the words or the speaker name on a transcript line, or delete the line, and Reline keeps no earlier version and logs no event for it. The audio stays as recorded. Write corrections in the note with a date, and give everyone else view access only.
• Summaries cite nothing, and an AI summary is not a statement: never send one for signature. Chat answers can cite a note or a moment, which helps you find a passage before you listen to it.
• Access: notes are private by default, and a workspace role alone grants nothing. Make one folder per case under My notes, not in a teamspace, and share it by name. On every plan, Reline logs events on each note such as shares, renames, moves and restores, but not who opened it or what changed in the transcript. If you leave the workspace, its Owner can open the notes you left outside closed and private teamspaces.
• Retention: no auto-delete schedule, so your retention period is a rule your team follows. Delete permanently in the trash removes the note, its recordings and its transcript at once. Anything left in the trash is purged at 30 days.
• Paperwork: a DPA is available. There is no SOC 2 report and no BAA.
• Price: $15 per seat a month. Free is 10 hours of transcription and 1 hour per recording.

The template is yours either way. If you do record, tell everyone first and have each person agree out loud at the start of the recording.