Use one row for one event
Record the date, place, people involved, action or words, any witness and the relevant document. Where wording is approximate, say so. Keep a separate column for why you believe the event is connected to your concern. This preserves the difference between the event itself and your interpretation of it. A contemporaneous note is often easier to explain than a reconstructed narrative.
Keep context as well as highlights
Preserve the full relevant message or document rather than only a cropped phrase. Record what happened before and after an incident if it affects its meaning. Identify where you know a fact directly and where you rely on another person. Do not embellish a statement or conceal context merely because it complicates your account.
Organise material you can lawfully keep
Keep relevant evidence securely and avoid unnecessary circulation. Do not access accounts or records you are not entitled to access. Make a factual list of missing material and ask an adviser about the appropriate way to request it. Your private working file should not become a public collection of colleagues’ personal information.
Prepare questions for advice
Ask which legal category may fit, which facts matter, what steps are available and what deadlines apply. Internal complaints and tribunal limitation rules need separate attention. A grievance may help raise the concern, but it does not itself extend the tribunal deadline. Use the current official time-limit guidance and seek timely help if a deadline is approaching.
A record-writing example
Instead of writing “My promotion was blocked because of bias”, a fictional worker records the vacancy date, application, decision, reason given and the evidence creating the concern. The legal inference is left as a question to assess. This makes the record clearer without presenting an unproved conclusion as an established fact.
Choose the relevant resource
The Discrimination at Work volume is the focused title for readers trying to understand this topic. For a claim already moving toward a hearing, the Employment Tribunal volume concerns the procedural journey. Check the samples and current sources, and obtain advice where the legal assessment or deadline is uncertain.
Sources & scope
Checked on 8 October 2026. Follow your tribunal’s directions and jurisdiction-specific rules. Examples on this page are fictional and illustrate preparation methods, not legal outcomes.
Edition notes and current-rule checks · General information, not individual legal advice.