(CNS): The problem of reprisals, retaliation and revenge facing workplace whistleblowers will be part of a review of the Whistleblower Protection Act, 2015, after it steers through a government motion in parliament later this week to modernise and bolster the law.
The legislation was designed to protect people who report improper conduct in the public interest, and prohibits bosses from taking action against them. However, there are concerns that some still do. The motion, moved by Premier André Ebanks, proposes a review of the framework to see if it needs updating, according to a release from his office.
The law, which is overseen by the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB), covers public and private sector employees, including former employees and contractors, and makes it an offence to take detrimental action against a whistleblower.
Since the law came into effect in 2018, whistleblower frameworks in other countries have been updated to recognise wider reporting channels, provide protection for people connected to a whistleblower, and protection against retaliation that affects a person’s future employment, the release said.
Ebanks said that most people “will hopefully never need this law. The ones who do are usually people who have seen something they simply cannot ignore and who stand to lose a great deal by saying so. Whether good people in this circumstance are properly protected says something about how a country is governed, and I think it is timely that we take another...
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