The government has agreed to review whistleblowing legislation following an increase in numbers of employees dismissed after ‘blowing the whistle’ (making a protected disclosure) regarding a COVID-19 related issue.

The term whistleblowing means that someone has exposed some information or activity that they feel is unethical, illegal or not correct within the bounds of their organisation. A complaint can be made regarding an incident in the past, something that is current and happening now, or something that it is believed will happen in the future.

According to whistleblowing charity Protect, one in five whistleblowers who contacted them were dismissed after they had raised COVID-19 related concerns to their employer during the first six months of the pandemic. This rate then increased further for September 2020 and March 2021 to one in four whistleblowers.

Andrew Pepper-Parsons, Head of Policy for Protect, commented:

“The pandemic has shown us the importance of whistleblowing and how it plays a role in keeping all of us safe – yet one year on from the start of the pandemic, and we are still finding whistleblowers raising Covid-related concerns being victimised or dismissed. The pandemic has exposed how, in reality, it is too easy to ignore whistleblowers.”

Protect is currently campaigning for the reform of whistleblowing legislation, the Public Interest Disclosure Act, explaining that a new Bill is needed because:

• The current law is inadequate – it only gives whistleblowers rights if they are dismissed or suffer some form of ‘detriment’, for example an unfair disciplinary.
• To use these rights, individuals must face their employer in the Employment Tribunal. There is no other way to access justice, and support for individuals is very limited.
• Relevant individuals, such as trustees, trainees and volunteers are excluded from the law.
• There are no official standards for whistleblowing that employers need to meet, or recognised procedures for them to follow.
• Regulators are unaccountable for the way they treat whistleblowers. Whistleblowers cannot bring a claim against a regulator – only against their employer.
• Whistleblowers don’t get legal aid and must pay for all their legal fees personally, with no prospect of recovering the costs – even if they win.

Protect is calling on the government to:

• Extend the scope of the law to include all those who raise concerns in a work-related context, e.g. volunteers and people in training.
• Increase what kinds of concerns can be considered ‘whistleblowing’, to include breaches of the employers’ policies and mismanagement of public funds.
• Introduce mandatory standards for employers, including arrangements to ensure that employers are dealing with whistleblowing concerns effectively, and proactively protecting whistleblowers.
• Ensure individuals who whistleblow to trade unions representatives are protected.
• Set official whistleblowing standards for recognised regulators to follow, to promote consistency across Britain’s range of industries.
• Establish template wording in settlement agreements to avoid gagging clauses being used to silence whistleblowers.
• Provide legal protection to those who are mistakenly identified as a whistleblower, or who are considering whistleblowing.
• Create an Independent Whistleblowing Commissioner, to investigate where concerns have been mishandled, set standards for employers and prescribed persons (as in point 3 and 5), improve public awareness, and impose fines on employers or regulators for breaching the standards.
• Increase the time limit individuals have to bring a claim in Employment Tribunal.
• Secure legal aid for whistleblowing cases.

According to The Telegraph, the government is looking to roll out a new single body to enforce employees’ rights, which may include whistleblowing protections. This could feature in the government’s new Employment Bill, once it reaches Parliament.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) commented:

“No worker should lose their job for whistleblowing, and our current regime makes clear that it is unacceptable for an employer to dismiss someone for passing on information concerning wrongdoing.

“We have upgraded the whistleblowing regime to provide support for those who speak up and ensure they are treated fairly at work, including providing guidance on how workers can make disclosures while retaining their employment protections. We will be reviewing these reforms to ensure they remain fit for purpose.”