Whistleblowing at Work
The Law
Whistleblowing is the action someone takes to report wrongdoing at work that affects others. For example, it could affect the general public.
Legally this is known as 'making a disclosure in the public interest'.
The action of whistleblowing is sometimes called 'blowing the whistle'.
Who is protected by law
By law, most people are protected if they make a qualifying disclosure. This includes:
- workers
- employees
- agency workers
- apprentices
- NHS practitioners
- student nurses
- student midwives
- police
- office holders
- self-employed doctors, dentists, ophthalmologists and pharmacists working in the NHS
Protection starts from the beginning of employment.
People are still protected even if they no longer work for the employer they're making a disclosure about.
For example, if you believe your previous employer gave an inaccurate job reference because you made a disclosure when working for them.
Who is not protected by law
People are not usually protected in law if they're:
- genuinely self-employed
- a volunteer with no enforceable employment contract
- a non-executive director
- a member of the armed forces
- a solicitor or barrister learning about an issue covered by professional privilege
- a crown employee dealing with national security – for example, people who work for MI5, MI6 or GCHQ
An employer might have a policy that says someone who is not protected by law can still make a disclosure to them. This is usually because the employer wants to try and resolve problems directly. In these circumstances the person must follow the process in that policy to make a disclosure. A policy like this does not mean the person making the disclosure becomes protected by law.
What the law protects whistleblowers from
By law (the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998), whistleblowers are protected from:
- unfair dismissal – if someone is dismissed for whistleblowing, it will be treated as an automatic unfair dismissal
- detriment
Detriment means someone experiences one or both of the following because they made a disclosure:
- being treated worse than before
- having their situation made worse
Examples of detriment could be:
- their employer reduces their hours
- they experience bullying
- they experience harassment
- their employer turns down their training requests without good reason
By law, there are several issues you can whistleblow about. These are called 'qualifying disclosures'.
Qualifying disclosures include:
- a criminal offence – for example, an employer has been trying to bribe people
- the breach of a legal obligation by an organisation – for example, an employer has neglected their duty of care towards children in a care home
- a miscarriage of justice – for example, a member of staff has been dismissed for something that turned out to be a computer error
- someone's health and safety being in danger – for example, an employer has forced staff to serve contaminated food
- damage to the environment – for example, an employer has been regularly polluting local rivers
You can also whistleblow about someone trying to cover up information about any of these issues.
You can make a qualifying disclosure about an issue that's happened at any time. This includes if it's likely to happen in the future. It can also be about something that takes place overseas.
You can report one or more qualifying disclosures.
Please refer to the Trust Whistleblowing Procedure below.
Resolving a personal problem at work
If your concern is a personal problem only and not in the public interest, it will not be covered by whistleblowing law. In these cases you might be able to resolve the problem another way.