Legal experts are warning HR professionals of the consequences of workers whistleblowing on their former and current employers for coronavirus job retention scheme fraud.
Whistleblowing cases relating to furlough fraud are increasing, with law firm Pinsent Masons reporting that 13,775 furlough fraud whistleblowing reports have now been made to HMRC.
The government department has simultaneously been stepping up enforcement activity on furlough fraud, adding resources to investigations teams and making available online information about whether an employer made a furlough claim.
It comes after the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) revelation in February that an estimated 8.7 per cent of money distributed by the government’s furlough scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic – 5.3bn of circa 70bn – was lost to fraud and error resulted in criticism.
At the time, Dame Meg Hillier, Labour MP and chair of the PAC, said the government’s “lack of preparedness and planning” had led to an “unacceptable level of mistakes, waste, loss and openings for fraudsters”.
For those concerned about the upstep in furlough fraud scrutiny, Lynne Ingram, managing associate at law firm Freeths, recommended that employers proactively review previous furlough claims, preemptively disclosing concerns to HMRC along with evidence to show any potential mistakes were not deliberate.
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