Furthermore, the Employment Appeals Tribunal held that a worker who made a protected disclosure to a previous employer, and then suffered detriment from his current employer as a result, could also make a claim under s.47B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA).

The legislation was designed to protect the employee or worker, whoever they worked for.

As of 6 April, 2010 tribunals can refer whistleblowing claims to the HSE or other regulatory authority for further investigation. This could potentially mean that the employer only hear about the HSE investigation at a late stage. The changes are outlined in The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2010.

Dealing with PIDA

The rising number of whistleblowing claims to tribunals shows that employers should do more to protect staff from retribution, according to Public Concern at Work.

Public Concern at Work is the whistleblowing charity and their website contains useful information for employers. Here is an extract from their Best Practice Guide: 

• ensure that staff are aware of and trust the whistleblowing avenues;
• make provision for realistic advice about what the whistleblowing process means for openness, confidentiality and anonymity;
• continually review how the procedures work in practice; and
• regularly communicate to staff about the avenues open to them.