Protection of Whistleblowers
A protected disclosure and “whistleblowing” are essentially one and the same thing. Workers who raise concerns about relevant wrongdoing in their workplace are protected from dismissal, penalisation or other sanctions by their employers. (Protected Disclosures Act 2014 as amended by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022)
A protected disclosure is a disclosure by a worker of information about a relevant wrongdoing which they became aware of in a work related context.
Wrongdoings include:
- criminal offences;
- failure to comply with any legal obligation (other than one arising out of a worker’s contract of employment or contract for services);
- a miscarriage of justice;
- endangerment of an individual’s health or safety;
- damage to the environment;
- unlawful or improper use of funds or resources by a public body;
- oppressive, discriminatory or grossly negligent behaviour or gross mismanagement by a public body;
- breaches of European Union law set out in the 2022 Act linked above;
- concealment or destruction of evidence relating to any of the above wrongdoings.
The Act allows for disclosures to be made about past wrongdoings, current wrongdoings, and wrongdoings that are likely to occur in the future.
A worker can report the wrongdoing to the following :
- to your employer,
- to a prescribed person
- to an external person or
- to the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner.
A “worker” is defined by the Act as an individual working in the private or public sector who acquired information on relevant wrongdoings in a work-related context and includes:
- employees and former employees,
- persons who provide or provided services to another party under contract,
- agency and former agency workers,
- board and former board members (including non-executive members),
- shareholders and former shareholders,
- trainees and former trainees,
- volunteers and former volunteers,
- job applicants,
- individuals involved in pre-contract negotiations,
- and members and former members of the Defences Forces (including the Reserves).
The Act also protects workers who make a disclosure by way of an anonymous report.
The employer must:
Acknowledge the anonymous report within 7 days and follow up on it Give feedback, within 3 months, on actions taken or planned
Penalisation is any direct or indirect act or omission which occurs in a work-related context, is prompted by the making of a report and causes or may cause unjustified detriment to a worker, and includes:
- suspension, lay-off or dismissal;
- demotion, loss of opportunity for promotion or withholding of promotion;
- transfer of duties, change of location or place of work, reduction in wages or change in working hours;
- the imposition or administering of any discipline, reprimand or other penalty (including a financial penalty);
- coercion, intimidation, harassment or ostracism;
- discrimination, disadvantage or unfair treatment;
- injury, damage or loss;
- threat of reprisal;
- withholding of training;
- a negative performance assessment or employment reference;
- failing to convert a temporary employment contract into a permanent one, where the worker had a legitimate expectation that they would be offered permanent employment;
- failing to renew or early termination of a temporary employment contract;
- harm, including to the worker’s reputation, particularly on social media, or financial loss, including loss of business and loss of income;
- blacklisting
- early termination or cancellation of a contract for goods or services;
- cancellation of a licence or permit; and
- psychiatric or medical referrals.
There must be a designated person in your organisation for dealing with employee disclosures. The designated person must be impartial and competent to follow up on reports. The designated person will liaise with the whistleblower whose identity is confidential.