Whistleblowing at Work

A "qualifying disclosure" under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (as amended by PIDA) is information that, in the reasonable belief of the worker, tends to show one or more of the following:

• A criminal offence has been, is being, or is likely to be committed
• A person has failed, is failing, or is likely to fail to comply with a legal obligation
• A miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring, or is likely to occur
• The health or safety of any individual has been, is being, or is likely to be endangered
• The environment has been, is being, or is likely to be damaged
• Information tending to show any of the above has been, is being, or is likely to be deliberately concealed

Since 2013, disclosures must also be made in the public interest — not just for private benefit. You must reasonably believe both that the information is true and that making the disclosure is in the public interest. "Reasonable belief" does not mean you have to be right — you are protected even if the information turns out to be incorrect, provided you genuinely believed it.

Protection under PIDA covers workers (not just employees) — including agency workers, trainees, and some self-employed contractors. This is wider than most other employment rights, which often only cover employees.

A worker who makes a qualifying protected disclosure is protected from:

• Dismissal: Dismissal for making a protected disclosure is automatically unfair, regardless of length of service.
• Detriment: Being subjected to any detrimental act by the employer or by colleagues (following a 2017 court ruling) because of the disclosure — including being overlooked for promotion, excluded from opportunities, or subjected to hostile treatment.

For the disclosure to be protected, it must be made to an appropriate person. Internal disclosures to your employer or a responsible person within the organisation are automatically protected. External disclosures to a prescribed body (such as the Health and Safety Executive, HMRC, or the Financial Conduct Authority) are protected provided you reasonably believe the relevant regulatory body is the appropriate recipient. Disclosures to the media have higher thresholds.

Before making a disclosure, consider:

• Does the information relate to one of the qualifying categories of wrongdoing?
• Do you genuinely and reasonably believe it is true?
• Is there a public interest element — is this about more than your own employment situation?
• Who is the appropriate recipient — your employer internally, or an external prescribed body?

After making a disclosure, keep records of everything — the disclosure itself (in writing if possible), the date, how it was made, and the response. If you subsequently face adverse treatment, document every incident with dates, times, and witnesses.

If you are dismissed or subjected to detriment following a protected disclosure, contact Acas immediately and register for Early Conciliation. You must bring a claim within three months less one day of the act of dismissal or detriment.

If you make a qualifying disclosure and suffer a detriment or are dismissed as a result, you have legal protection. Whistleblowing dismissals are automatically unfair — there is no minimum service requirement and no cap on compensation. You can also apply for interim relief within 7 days of dismissal, which if granted means your employer must continue paying you until the tribunal hearing.

Keep records of your disclosure, who you told, when, and any changes in how you were treated afterwards. Detriments short of dismissal (such as being overlooked for promotion, excluded from meetings, or given unfavourable duties) are also actionable. You can bring a claim to the employment tribunal within 3 months (less 1 day) of the detriment or dismissal.

Before lodging an Employment Tribunal claim for whistleblowing dismissal or detriment, you must contact Acas and go through Early Conciliation. This is a mandatory step: a conciliation officer will contact your employer to see whether the dispute can be resolved without a tribunal hearing. The conciliation period stops the tribunal clock while talks are ongoing.

Early Conciliation is free and confidential. Many whistleblowing disputes settle at this stage — often through a settlement agreement that includes a financial payment and agreed wording for a reference. If settlement is not reached, Acas issues a certificate that allows you to proceed to the tribunal.

At the tribunal, the burden is on you to show you made a qualifying protected disclosure. Once you establish this, the burden shifts to the employer to show the detriment or dismissal was not connected to the disclosure. In practice, this shifted burden is highly significant — the employer must positively prove the reason for the treatment was unrelated to the whistleblowing.

The Employment Rights Bill 2024, which was progressing through Parliament at the time this guide was updated, proposed to extend whistleblowing protections in several respects — including strengthening protections for workers who report to the new Fair Work Agency. Practitioners and workers should monitor developments as provisions are enacted. The existing framework under the Employment Rights Act 1996 and PIDA 1998 remains the operative law until any amendments take effect.

If you need representation at tribunal, Protect (formerly Public Concern at Work) provides specialist free legal advice for whistleblowers. The Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) can also help where the detriment intersects with a protected characteristic.

When calculating compensation for a whistleblowing detriment claim, there is no statutory cap — unlike ordinary unfair dismissal awards which are capped on the basic and compensatory elements. This means that if your whistleblowing led to you being constructively dismissed from a highly paid role, or if your employer's conduct amounted to discrimination linked to the disclosure, the tribunal can award substantial compensation reflecting your actual losses, including loss of earnings, pension contributions, and career damage. However, you remain under a duty to mitigate your loss — you must take reasonable steps to find alternative employment. Keep detailed records of your job search activity from the moment you leave your role, as the tribunal will scrutinise whether you mitigated your losses effectively. The absence of a statutory cap makes whistleblowing claims among the most valuable employment claims available, but also among the most vigorously defended by employers — legal representation is strongly advisable.