Askews Legal LLP – Settlement Agreement Advice in Coventry

Whistleblowing is when an employee discloses information about wrongdoing in the workplace. Many incidents of whistleblowing have become entrenched in history, for example, Frank Serpico (later portrayed by Al Pacino in the movie Serpico) who spoke to the New York Times about corruption in the NYPD and Jeffrey Wigand (played by Russel Crowe in The Insider) who told 60 Minutes that cigarette companies were intentionally packaging products with addictive levels of nicotine.

Whistleblowers play an enormous part in helping stop and prevent corporate and government misconduct.

The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) provides two levels of protection for whistleblowers:

• Protection against being dismissed for making a protected disclosure; and
• Being subjected to detriment for making a protected disclosure.

Various criteria must be met to qualify for protection under PIDA. Our Employment Law Solicitors will quickly advise you if you are eligible.

A disclosure qualifies for protection if you made it in the reasonable belief that making the disclosure was in the public’s interest and one or more of the following wrongdoings apply:

• A criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely to be committed.
• Someone has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which they are subject.
• A miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur.
• The health or safety of any person has been, is being or is likely to be endangered.
• The environment has been, is being or is likely to be damaged.
• Information showing evidence of any of the above has been, is being or is likely to be deliberately concealed.

To protect your interests, it is always better to make any disclosure in writing. Simply telling your manager can lead to a dispute about what you actually said. Furthermore, an Employment Tribunal claim is unlikely to occur for at least a year following the disclosure, making it extremely difficult to prove that a protected disclosure was ever made unless you can provide written evidence.

If you win your claim in the Employment Tribunal, there is no cap on the amount of compensation you may be awarded.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have policy statements on whistleblowing in large financial institutions, and a package of new rules for large banks, building societies, credit unions, PRA-designated investment firms and insurers.

Affected institutions are required to appoint a “whistleblowers’ champion” and establish internal whistleblowing channels. They must communicate to staff about these arrangements, the role of the PRA and FCA with regards to whistleblowing, and employees’ rights under PIDA.