When an individual within an organisation raises a concern over something that isn’t right, it’s known as whistleblowing.
Whistleblowers can call attention to instances of harm, abuse, neglect, and fraud. They might also highlight poor practices that might eventually lead to wrongdoing. In this case, whistleblowers can play an important role in preventing future cases of abuse.
Whistleblowers have certain legal protections. Organisations should also develop policies and procedures to give whistleblowers the support and protection they need.
Whistleblowing Legislation
In UK law, whistleblowers cannot be treated unfairly, or removed from their positions, as a result of “blowing the whistle.”
However, to qualify for this legal protection, the wrongdoing a whistleblower exposes must be “in the public interest”. In short, the wrongdoing must affect others, such as members of the public, or other individuals at the organisation.
Whistleblowing law overrides certain contractual agreements. For example, if your workplace contract has a confidentiality clause, then your company cannot accuse you of breaching your contract should you call attention to wrongdoing.
What Is Not Covered By Whistleblowing Legislation?
Personal grievances are not covered by whistleblowing law, even if these grievances are related to cases of harm or abuse, such as instances of bullying, harassment, and discrimination. Whistleblowing law only applies to reports of wrongdoing that affect people other than yourself.
UK law states that you should report personal grievances under your employer’s grievance policy.
You can read the full guide to UK whistleblowing legislation on the government’s website.
The Crown Prosecution Service has also published a whistleblowing FAQ.
Examples of Whistleblowing in Health and Social Care
The NHS has a Freedom to Speak Up policy, to ensure that everyone working within the NHS feels safe and confident in raising concerns. This policy frames whistleblowing as an opportunity for NHS leaders to learn and improve.
There are a number of resources available online for anyone who’d like to raise a concern, or to learn more about the outcomes of disclosures:
- Freedom to Speak Up – national policy, guidance, and planning tool.
- How to blow the whistle on other NHS organisations.
- Annual report on whistleblowing disclosures from NHS workers.
- The Speaking Up Support Scheme for whistleblowers in health and social care.
- Learning outcomes from the Speaking Up Support Scheme.
- Further resources to help health and social care settings develop whistleblowing polices.
Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, any concerns about health care workers can be made directly to Health Education England (HEE). This means that whistleblowers in health and social care do not have to raise concerns to their own employers, if they do not want to.
You can learn more about HEE’s approach to whistleblowing here. You can also access the HEE Whistleblowing Protected Disclosure Policy.
Examples of Whistleblowing in the Workplace
In 2015, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills published whistleblowing guidance for employers, which included a whistleblowing code of practice.
The guidance called upon employers to recognise that “workers are valuable ears and eyes”:
Workers are often the first people to witness any type of wrongdoing in an organisation. The information that workers may uncover could prevent wrongdoing, which may damage an organisation’s reputation and/or performance, and could even save people from harm or death.
The guidance also calls upon employers to create “an open and supportive culture,” lest “the worker may not feel comfortable making a disclosure, for fear of the consequences.”
Has Your Organisation Got a Whistleblowing Policy?
As part of an open and supportive culture, organisations should create a whistleblowing policy, and take steps to communicate this policy across the organisation.
Among other things, this policy should outline your procedures for handling whistleblowing, while putting a number of commitments in writing: That you will treat all disclosures consistently and fairly, and that you will work to maintain the whistleblower’s confidentiality, if they request it.
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has a guide to writing a whistleblowing policy on their site. ACAS can also support individuals with complaints that do not meet the criteria for whistleblowing.
Read our guide to speak out cultures, and find out how your whistleblowing policy can help you work towards creating a more open and transparent organisation.
Also take a look at the resources on the Protect site – the UK’s leading whistleblowing charity.