Why did she record it? This might be something you would want to take to your supervisor, just as an FYI. They can decide what to do with the information from there.

Does she report to you? Was something particularly confidential discussed in the meeting? If it was a routine meeting and nothing of particular importance or confidence was discussed, you should encourage her to destroy the tape and tell her that was inappropriate of her to record without others knowledge and to not do it again (and I would probably discuss the issue with her supervisor if that is not you). If topics of a sensitive nature were brought up (which I suspect since you're questioning it) I would think you should report her (give her forewarning).

We had a HUGE issue about four or five years ago with something similar. People found out weeks later that someone had recorded them without their knowing it. This is illegal. Some were furious and were considering legal action. It caused so much damage to the reputation of the person who did the recording (she said she didn't know it was illegal) that she ended up leaving shortly thereafter.

Honestly is the best policy. Either immediately erase the tape(s) and let those in the room know they were recorded by someone who did not know it should not have been done, or let them know first and give them the option of listening to the tape (so they hear firsthand what was recorded) and then erase the tape after everyone has heard it. Letting them listen to it first removes the mystery of the tape and lets them know that nothing was recorded that can be used against them.

If you don't tell the people involved, and they find out about it later, you might have them legitimately angry about both the taping and the cover-up. And once people know a cover up took place, it could make them paranoid and wonder what other things have happened that were covered up.

But, if it's taken care of properly right at the start, it might end up being no big deal and everything will be okay.

It sounds like she didn't know she was doing anything wrong. Though, hiding the recorded might give some indication that she wasn't sure whether she should be doing it. The tape should be erased and the employee should be instructed that this is not a legal practice and as Mark noted, tell the meeting attendees what happened and the problem was rectified.

If she truly did it so she could go over the minutes later to make sure she got all the information correct, again, best of intentions but a lesson learned. We ALL sometimes have the best of intentions when it comes to getting our work done to the best of our ability and sometimes don't realize what we are doing is wrong.

Though it is curious as Tish mentions, if the recorder was on the table, why no one even saw it.

I was told by a labor law attorney that you may tape record any conversation that you are involved in. This means meetings, also. However, it does not mean you can tape private conversations that you are not invited to.

I tape all our meetings, especially because I wouldn't be able to remember everything that was said and by who. But, like Tish said, you can't hide a tape recorder. If you tape anyone without their knowledge, that is a different story, but I always let everyone know that the meeting is going to be taped and I will send everyone a copy of the typed minutes.

My comment about this is there are times when I WISHED I had recorded some meetings. A sad fact is, some people are LIARS. That's all I have to say about this.