Employee Has Made a Whistleblowing Complaint: What Should an Employer Do?
An employee says they have raised a whistleblowing concern. Perhaps they allege unsafe practices, financial wrongdoing, a breach of legal obligations or concealment of wrongdoing. Do not assume the complaint is protected simply because it uses the word whistleblowing, but do not dismiss it because it arrives during another employment dispute either.
At a Glance: Managing Whistleblowing Disclosures
- Public Interest Requirement: Disclosures must convey specific facts showing statutory wrongdoing and meet the reasonable public interest test.
- Strict Detriment Protection: Workers must not suffer detriment, adverse shifts, exclusion, or dismissal due to making a protected disclosure.
- Separation from Disciplinary Action: Existing performance reviews may continue only with clear, contemporaneous evidence proving independence.
- Reasonable Belief Standard: Protection remains intact even if the concern proves factually incorrect, provided the belief was reasonable.
First, take the concern seriously
An employee says they have raised a whistleblowing concern. Perhaps they allege unsafe practices, financial wrongdoing, a breach of legal obligations or concealment of wrongdoing. Do not assume the complaint is protected simply because it uses the word whistleblowing, but do not dismiss it because it arrives during another employment dispute either.
What can qualify as whistleblowing?
UK whistleblowing protection can apply to a qualifying disclosure of information that, in the worker’s reasonable belief, tends to show certain types of wrongdoing and is made in the public interest. The statutory categories include criminal offences, breaches of legal obligations, sexual harassment, miscarriages of justice, danger to health and safety, environmental damage and deliberate concealment of relevant wrongdoing. Whether a disclosure is protected depends on the circumstances, including to whom it was made.
Qualifying Disclosure Roadmap: Public Interest Tests, Detriment Safeguards, and Impartial Investigations
Is this a grievance or whistleblowing?
A complaint about a purely personal employment dispute will not automatically meet the public interest test. But the same communication can contain both a personal grievance and a potentially protected disclosure. Read the substance, not just the heading, and consider managing distinct issues through appropriate processes.
Personal Grievance
Complaints focused primarily on individual contract terms, personal friction, or individual working conditions.
Handled via: Internal Grievance Procedures & ACAS Code.Protected Whistleblowing
Disclosures implicating the wider public interest, illegality, danger, or health and safety risks.
Subject to: PIDA 1998 statutory detriment and dismissal safeguards.What should the employer do immediately?
Acknowledge receipt, identify the alleged wrongdoing and assess whether any urgent risk needs action. Consider safeguarding evidence and appointing an impartial person to review the concerns. Keep access to the information limited to those who need it, and explain confidentiality realistically.
Protect against detriment
Workers must not be subjected to unlawful detriment because they made a protected disclosure. Dismissal of an employee for the reason or principal reason that they made a protected disclosure can be automatically unfair. Be particularly careful about changes to duties, exclusion, disciplinary action or hostile treatment after a disclosure.
Can existing performance or disciplinary action continue?
Potentially, yes, if there are genuine, evidenced reasons unrelated to the disclosure. However, timing and decision making may be scrutinised closely. Review the independence of managers involved and document the legitimate basis for any continuing action. Seek advice where the processes overlap.
How should the whistleblowing investigation be managed?
Define the concern, preserve relevant evidence, speak to appropriate people and record the findings. Consider whether a regulator or another external authority must be informed. Do not promise an outcome or disclose confidential details about disciplinary action against others.
⚖️ What if the protected disclosure turns out to be mistaken?
Protection does not necessarily depend on the worker ultimately being correct. The legal tests concern matters including reasonable belief and the nature of the disclosure. Do not equate an unsubstantiated allegation with a malicious one.
How Nectar HR can help
Nectar HR helps employers assess whistleblowing complaints, coordinate fair investigations, manage overlapping grievances and disciplinaries and reduce retaliation risk. Where specialist regulatory or legal questions arise, we can work alongside the relevant advisers.
Got an employee problem?
Nectar HR helps employers assess whistleblowing complaints, coordinate fair investigations, manage overlapping grievances and disciplinaries and reduce retaliation risk. Where specialist regulatory or legal questions arise, we can work alongside the relevant advisers.
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