Whistleblowing

Our employment team has significant experience of representing employers who are seeking to handle and investigate employee whistleblowing disclosures. We have the resources and expertise to support and guide our clients in the most sensitive whistleblowing investigations and cases.

A whistleblower is protected by law and they shouldn’t be treated unfairly or lose their job because they have ‘blown the whistle’. A whistleblower must be free to raise their concern at any time about an incident that happened in the past, is happening now, or they believe will happen in the near future. Many employers have a whistleblowing procedure, which allows workers to report concerns anonymously if they wish.

The wrongdoing the whistleblower discloses must be seen to be in the public interest, which means it must in some way affect others, e.g. the general public.

Complaints that count as whistleblowing include; criminal offence, health and safety danger to a person, risk or damage to the environment, a miscarriage of justice, company breaking the law, and a person covering up wrongdoing.

These cases are often complex and involve unlimited compensation if successfully pursued in tribunal and so should be managed with care.