Further guidance

A good source of advice is the national charity Protect (see Further information, page 415).


The government’s Whistleblowing Guidance and Code of Practice, available on the GOV.UK website, suggests steps an employer can take to promote a culture that encourages workers to raise concerns, as well as guidance on how to deal with them. This is non-statutory, which means that employers do not have to follow it and tribunals do not have to consider it. It may be a useful starting point for unions when negotiating a workplace policy on whistleblowing. 


An amendment to the Employment Rights Bill would, if passed, extend the circumstances in which an employee is considered unfairly dismissed after making a protected disclosure, although it does not specify what those circumstances must be. It would also place a duty on an employer to “take reasonable steps” to investigate any disclosure made to them under S43C ERA 96. These changes would require separate regulations to be passed within six months of the ERB becoming law.


See also LRD’s booklet, Whistleblowing — a guide to the law, 2019.