In June 2026, the Presidents of the Employment Tribunals in England, Wales and Scotland issued new guidance on claims for 'interim relief' brought by employees claiming to have been unfairly dismissed because they are whistleblowers. This reflected two recent trends:
Whilst it is hard to pinpoint the exact cause of this, these trends have emerged alongside the boom in easy access to sophisticated AI tools. It is possible that these tools may be encouraging claimants to bring claims they otherwise might not have brought (for example, where there might not be sound legal basis to do so) and to produce lengthy, legalistic pleadings at the push of a button.
This article sets out what interim relief is, how it can present a significant financial risk for employers, the effect of the new guidance and a few practical steps employers can take to mitigate that risk.
'Whistleblowing' is the common label given to the making of a legally protected disclosure, within the meaning of Section 43A of the Employment Rights Act 1996. We have previously covered what is required to come within the scope of whistleblower protection. To summarise:
[Sportschosun Jang Jong-ho] A total of 34.789 billion won in false National Health Insurance claims was detected at 839 health care institutions over the past four years (2022-2025). According to d...