The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 came into force on 2 July. The aim of the Act is to protect individuals who make certain disclosures of information in the public interest. Not all ‘whistleblowing’ will be protected. The aim is to encourage employees to disclose information through the appropriate internal channels first rather than to go to an outside person. If an employee is dismissed because he made a protected disclosure the dismissal will be automatically unfair. There is no minimum qualifying service to make a claim for unfair dismissal for this reason, nor any cap on the compensation which may be awarded.
For further information please contact Susan Nickson, Trinity Court, 16 John Dalton Street, Manchester M60 8HS, UK, Tel: +44 161 830 5000.
