Connecticut recording consent law for interviews: the civil rule for phone calls

Connecticut has two recording laws that point in different directions. The criminal statute, General Statutes §§ 53a-187 and 53a-189, only reaches a person who is not a party to the call or conversation, so a participant may record without committing a crime. The civil statute, § 52-570d, is stricter for phone calls: recording a private phone call is allowed only with all parties' consent, a recorded verbal notice at the start, or an automatic warning tone, and anyone recorded otherwise can sue for damages and attorney's fees. For a recruiter, the civil rule is the one that sets the standard.

The consent checker applies Connecticut's phone rule automatically when you choose a phone call.

This page explains both statutes, what each of the three civil options looks like in an interview, how video and in-person interviews fit, the penalties and damages, cross-state calls, and a notice that satisfies § 52-570d.

The criminal statute: one-party in effect

Section 53a-189 makes eavesdropping a class D felony. A person commits it by unlawfully engaging in "wiretapping or mechanical overhearing of a conversation," and § 53a-187 defines both terms so that participants fall outside them:

• Wiretapping is the intentional overhearing or recording of a telephonic communication "by a person other than a sender or receiver thereof, without the consent of either the sender or receiver."
• Mechanical overhearing of a conversation is the intentional overhearing or recording of a conversation "without the consent of at least one party thereto, by a person not present thereat."

An interviewer on the call is a sender or receiver, and an interviewer in the room is present. Neither commits the crime by recording. Someone who records an interview they are not part of, without any participant's consent, does. A class D felony carries a prison term of not more than five years under § 53a-35a and a fine of up to $5,000 under § 53a-41.

The civil statute: all-party for phone calls, with three ways to comply

Section 52-570d(a) says no person shall use any instrument, device or equipment "to record an oral private telephonic communication" unless the use:

1. "is preceded by consent of all parties to the communication and such prior consent either is obtained in writing or is part of, and obtained at the start of, the recording"; or
2. "is preceded by verbal notification which is recorded at the beginning and is part of the communication by the recording party"; or
3. "is accompanied by an automatic tone warning device which automatically produces a distinct signal that is repeated at intervals of approximately fifteen seconds during the communication."

Subsection (b) lists exceptions for law enforcement, emergency agencies, recipients of threatening or harassing calls, carriers, broadcasters and the Secret Service. None covers employers or recruiters.

What each option looks like in an interview

Two details matter. First, options (1) and (2) are both tied to the recording itself: consent "obtained at the start of the recording" and notice "recorded at the beginning." Starting capture after the conversation is under way, then asking, fits neither. Second, if your tool transcribes without keeping audio, keep the consent exchange in the transcript or note it in your records, because the statute's model of proof assumes the beginning is captured.

Video and in-person interviews

Section 52-570d covers an "oral private telephonic communication." A phone screen is plainly within it. Whether an internet video call is "telephonic" is a question we found no Connecticut decision answering, and some video interviews include a dial-in audio leg that is a phone call by any measure. The safe approach is to treat video interviews like phone screens.

In-person interviews fall outside § 52-570d's text and are governed by the criminal statute, under which a participant may record. Telling the candidate is still the right practice: it costs nothing, and many candidates interviewing in Connecticut live or work across the line in New York or Massachusetts, where the second is a strict all-party state.

Damages and penalties

• Civil, § 52-570d(c): "Any person aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) of this section may bring a civil action in the Superior Court to recover damages, together with costs and a reasonable attorney's fee." There is no minimum dollar amount in the text, but fee-shifting makes small claims worth bringing.
• Criminal, § 53a-189: class D felony, for non-participants recording without any party's consent.

What it means for recording or transcribing an interview

1. The civil statute sets your floor for phone screens. Being a participant keeps you out of the criminal law, not out of § 52-570d.
2. Capture the opening. Start recording, give the notice, ask the question, and keep that exchange. If the candidate says no, stop and delete it.
3. Transcription is recording for practical purposes. The statute speaks of using equipment "to record," and a transcript is a record of the call. Give the same notice.
4. Never record interviews you are not in without a participant's consent, which would bring in the felony statute, and preferably everyone's.
5. Employees are a separate question. Connecticut's § 31-48d requires employers that electronically monitor their own employees to give prior notice. Its definitions are about employees, so it is a separate question from recording candidates, but it can apply to the interviewers on your side of the call.

Calls that cross the Connecticut line

New York, west of Connecticut, is a one-party state; Massachusetts, to the north, prohibits secret recording without all parties' authority. A Connecticut recruiter calling a Massachusetts candidate faces the stricter Massachusetts rule (see Massachusetts wiretap law for interviews). A New York recruiter calling a Connecticut candidate should assume § 52-570d may be applied to protect the person in Connecticut, since courts in states with stricter rules have applied their own law to calls recorded elsewhere, as California's Supreme Court did in Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney (2006). The overview is in recording calls across state lines.

A notice that satisfies section 52-570d

[Start capture, then say:]

"Before we begin, I want to let you know this call is being
[recorded / transcribed] so I have accurate notes for the [role]
position. It's kept for [period] and seen by [who]. Are you OK with
that? If not, I'll stop it now and take notes by hand, and it won't
affect your application."

[Yes: continue. No: stop capture and delete the opening.]

That opening is both a recorded verbal notification under option (2) and consent obtained at the start of the recording under option (1), and the explicit question covers stricter states. For phone-specific setup, see how to record a phone screen; for panel and email versions, see the interview recording consent script.

Checklist for Connecticut interviews

1. For phone screens, put the notice and the candidate's answer at the start of the recording.
2. Treat video interviews the same way.
3. Tell candidates on in-person interviews too, even though the civil statute is about phone calls.
4. Keep proof of written consent if you rely on it.
5. Never capture interviews you are not part of.
6. Date the policy and review it yearly.

Connecticut is listed as a split state in the two-party consent states table and explained in one-party consent states.