Do you know how to deal with whistleblowers?
Happy Tuesday all! Sorry I’m a day late but I hope you had a nice weekend; we had some sun! Hooray! I’m a bit shattered so far this week so I feel like it’s going to be a struggle through until Friday, especially because Philip has abandoned us as well to go off on his holiday (not jealous at all…)
I spent the weekend in London with my mum, we watched Hamilton on Friday night, which was amazing! We then spent the rest of the weekend enjoying some sightseeing, the weather, good food and drinks, and of course quality time with my mum… bliss.
We went to Notting Hill market on Saturday, saw the famous blue door and bookshop, but no Hugh Grant unfortunately… but we did have some very nice sushi.
Now, back to reality, but it’s not all bad now that summer seems to have finally arrived, we can get out and dust off the BBQ AND FINALLY get the garden furniture out (if I can convince my husband to get up the loft to get them!),
It’s two weeks to go until our event, “Getting to grips with whistleblowing”, have you signed up yet (if not why not?! And you can do so here).
And coincidently a case which has come back into the news because of the costs hearing outcome being published where a “whistle-blower” had been charged £5,000 by the tribunal after losing their case.
She alleged she blew the whistle about her company’s handling of bullying complaints and then was sacked for doing so. She lost the case in 2021, and the legal battle for costs has been ongoing. She initially faced a £40,000 bill which has now been reduced to £5,000 on appeal. This is BIG news because it is super hard to get costs awarded in a tribunal claim…that is for another day, as costs are a whole different topic – I reckon its one for Emma!
So, the facts …Her contract was terminated just weeks after she had started, and she believed that was due to the fact she had raised issues around insufficient responses to instances of workplace misconduct.
The employment tribunal dismissed her claims with the judge deciding that she did not qualify as a whistleblower and that the company had ended her contract early due to financial constraints.
She’s now gone on to speak to various news outlets about how she feels this judgment could deter future whistleblowers.
But if your employees aren’t deterred from raising concerns, then what do you do? Well it’s really important to deal with employees carefully when they’ve raised any issues about a relevant failure.
This case, like many before it, highlight that the law on whistleblowing is very technical, and there are various hurdles and tests which need to be met before an employee can rely on the protections. It’s important to understand these as employers so that you can be alert to any potential issues which may arise.
Now, I am can’t possibly cover it warts and all in one blog (for that, join our session!) But here is a whistlestop tour…
There are two levels of protection under the law, the right not to be dismissed, and the right not to be subjected to a detriment for making a “protected disclosure”. A protected disclosure is defined under the law where an individual discloses information which they reasonably believe shows that one of the following has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur:
- A criminal offence
- Breach of a legal obligation
- A miscarriage of justice
- Danger to the health and safety of individuals
- Damage to the environment, or
- Concealment of information about any of the above deliberately
The disclosure also needs to be in the public interest, and the individual doesn’t need to prove that the allegations being disclosed are actually true, they just need to have the belief that they are.
Importantly – there’s no minimum length of service to be able to bring a whistleblowing claim, unlike unfair dismissal where employees need 2 years. And there’s no cap for compensation, so individuals do find it an attractive claim to bring, but it’s not always easy.
The hurdle which individuals find hardest to overcome, as was the way in the case mentioned above, is that they need to show that the reason, or principal reason for the dismissal (or detriment) was because of the protected disclosure. It is this which make whistleblowing claims hard to prove in reality, and where employers have clear documentary evidence and credible witnesses that this wasn’t the case, they will in reality be able successfully defend a claim.
Now, I’ve only given the very basic details here but if you want more information and practical tips on dealing with whistleblowers in your workplace, then please come along to our event to find out more . Sign up here.
Enjoy the sunshine as in all likelihood it won’t be around for long!
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