Back

Workers who “blow the whistle” on their employers have the right not to be dismissed or otherwise penalised as a result.

The legislation protecting whistleblowers requires the worker to act in the public interest and, in most cases, raise his or her concerns directly with the employer or regulator. Rarely will workers be afforded the protection of legislation where they have made a disclosure directly to the press.

This content includes:

Reasons for whistleblowing protection

The whistleblowing legislation was introduced after a series of high-profile scandals and disasters in the 1980s and 90s. In many cases, staff were aware of serious irregularities within the organisations in which they worked, but for fear of the consequences did not speak out.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) inserted various new sections into the Employment Rights Act 1996. As the name suggests, the intention of PIDA was to encourage the disclosure of information that is in the public interest such as illegal, dangerous or corrupt practices.

Who is protected?

The whistleblowing legislation protects workers. A worker in this context includes not only employees but also consultants (who undertake to provide work personally), contract workers and agency workers among others.

When is a worker protected under the legislation?

The whistleblowing legislation does not provide general protection for any form of whistleblowing.

In order to attract protection, the worker must make a protected...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMib0FVX3lxTE9IYUpXUGM2RkljbC1yTW9KZ2Jv...