I emphatically disagree about it being "unethical" -- we view being recorded as a part of job function. I am also curious (and, frankly, skeptical) about the supposed illegality in your jurisdiction; where do you live?
Yes! Anything that required recording as part of job function would be illegal, which I highly doubt is the case -- part of why I'm interested to get to specifics here...
Some specifics are in https://www.anwalt.de/rechtstipps/was-muessen-arbeitgeber-be.... This assumes you make video recordings of the meetings, then we are not only talking about the personal rights to the voice, but also to the picture. But similar rules would apply if you only take voice recordings, to my knowledge, it's just less documented.
Of course you can have jobs where the voice recording is absolutely necessary, then it can be allowed by default. Or similarly, of course an actor will be recorded in sound and picture. But that's not the case when doing a regular office job. Specifically your "it's expected from the employers" is what would absolutely make it illegal.
