UK Employment Law \Employee\ Whistleblowing
Whistle-blowing at work
Whistleblowers raises concerns about wrongdoing and malpractice in organisations or companies. This person is often an insider who takes a brave step to inform an official body or the press about what is happening.
Whistleblowers reveal misconduct on:
- a criminal offence
- a failure to comply with a legal obligation
- a miscarriage of justice
- a health and safety issue
- damage to the environment
- an attempt tocover up any of the above.
Whistleblowers can often face reprisals from their employers and colleagues. However, some organisations have a policy on ‘whistleblowing’ in order to maintain openness, transparency and trust in the product or service.
A good policy should offer protection to employees who disclose such concerns, provided they are made:
- in good faith
- in the reasonable belief of the individual making the disclosure that it tends to show malpractice or impropriety.
Confidentiality
The employer should treat all disclosures in a confidential and sensitive manner. The identity of whoever made the allegation must be kept confidential so long as it does not frustrate any investigation.
Anonymous Allegations
Concerns made anonymously are much less credible, but they may be considered at the discretion of the employer. Employees should, therefore, be encouraged to put their name to any disclosures they make.
Untrue Allegations
If an employee makes an allegation in good faith, which proves to be unfounded, no action should be taken against that individual.
Investigating Procedure
Whoever investigates the alleged malpractice should follow the steps below:
- Full details of the malpractice should be obtained;
- the investigating officer should inform whoever the complaint is made against;
- The investigating officer should consider the involvement of auditors and the police;
- Allegations should be fully investigated with the assistance where appropriate, of other individuals.
If the complaint is justified, then disciplinary action, or other appropriate procedures should follow.
Conclusion
Whistle-blowing is important if an employer is to maintain accountability and transparency. It also allows staff to voice concerns in a responsible and effective manner.
It should be emphasised in any employer’s policy that whistle-blowing is meant to help individuals who believe they have discovered any malpractice or impropriety. The policy should not be used to question financial or business decisions.
The biggest challenge is giving employees the confidence to reveal malpractice. They might be of the opinion that ignoring any cases is the best course of action if they want to maintain the respect of some colleagues. Others might think that the employer’s policy looks good on paper, but might fear that they could threaten their own position for raising a concern.
