Statutory protection for whistleblowers in the UK is not a new concept – the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (the Act) came into force as long ago as 1999. The basic premise remains the same – provision of a framework under which employees feel safe enough to raise concerns about serious wrongdoing within an organisation.
More than 20 years later, employers need to be live to the fact that whistleblower protection applies as much to concerns close to the heart of workers of the twenty twenties as it did in the nineties and there is scope for it to be used to drive workplace cultural change on issues such as carbon reduction.
Having a statutory framework under which employees feel safe enough to raise concerns about serious wrongdoing within an organisation is clearly a good thing, for employees, employers and the wider public. The Act does this by prohibiting employers from dismissing workers or subjecting them to the detriment because they have blown the whistle.
Many employers recognise this and embrace it, through the development of robust whistleblowing processes and providing access to a confidential helpline to report any such complaints.
On the flip side the UK legislation in this area is relatively complex. This means it can be difficult to navigate in practice and employers can be wary of it in a litigation context. Also, from the litigation perspective, there is the additional challenge that if a claimant is successful with a whistleblowing claim it lifts...
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