Whistleblowing Protection

Now that employees usually need over two year's service before they are able to claim unfair dismissal, they often look for other potential claims to bring against their employer if the relationship ends on a sour note. Whistleblowing is one of those potential avenues as no period of qualifying service is required. Employers would be wise to stay alert to what can constitute "blowing the whistle", particularly given the recent and upcoming changes in the law.

Law

To be covered by the whistleblowing legislation, the employee's disclosure must be both a "qualifying" and a "protected" disclosure.

A disclosure will typically be a "qualifying disclosure" where the employee:

• has made a disclosure of information (rather than simply threatening it). It is still sufficient for the employee to draw attention to matters which are already known by the recipient;