What is whistleblowing
'Whistleblowing' is when a worker provides certain types of information which has come to their attention, usually to the employer or a regulator, to raise a concern about danger or illegality that affects others. The disclosure may be about the alleged wrongful conduct of the employer, a colleague, client, or any third party.
How it affects you...
Although most Company terms and conditions do not permit employees to disclose confidential information. The law does allow them however to make a ‘protected disclosure’ and those making these disclosures are protected against dismissal or detriment by The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 which is a key piece of legislation protecting individuals who ‘blow the whistle’ in the public interest.
What’s covered by Whistleblowing Legislation?
- A criminal offence
- A Miscarriage of Justice
- A danger to the health and safety of any individual
- Damage to the environment
- Deliberate attempt to conceal any of the above.
What’s Not Covered by Whistleblowing Legislation
Personal grievances eg. for example bullying, harassment, discrimination are not covered by whistleblowing law, unless a particular case is in the public interest.
If we receive a complaint that is not covered, we will redirect the complainant to your internal grievance procedures.
Why Do You Need our Whistleblowing Service
- Having a whistleblowing policy in place communicates to staff that the you as an employer takes any wrongdoing very seriously and is committed to identifying and remedying it
- Promote a culture of honesty and transparency across your workforce and beyond
- Provide a safe and supportive environment for employees to raise concern.
We offer a confidential whistleblowing service to our retained clients where employees can make an anonymous or non-anonymous disclosure if they wish to and a disclosure report will be provided to the appropriate person in the organisation with recommendations for further investigation.
Our independent investigation service gives you and your company confidence that thorough investigations are run effectively in your organisation.
Some of our clients find this useful as they can be seen as impartial if there were to be a disclosure and staff may prefer the option of speaking to someone external.
How Sleek HR can help:
We develop clear and concise whistleblowing policy and procedure for your organisation that gives your employees the confidence to report any unethical activity they come across.