What disclosures are protected?


Whistleblowing protection is available for complaints disclosing information about:




• a criminal offence, such as insurance fraud or tax avoidance; 





• failure to comply with a legal obligation; 





• health and safety;





• risk or actual damage to the environment;





• a miscarriage of justice; and





• a belief that information about one of the above is being concealed.





Where the complaint is that an employer failed to comply with a legal obligation, the worker must reasonably believe that a legal obligation has been breached. A complaint that an employer’s actions are morally wrong or undesirable is not enough to secure protection under the law (Eiger Securities LLP v Korshunova [2017] UKEAT/0149/16/DM). 



The disclosure must convey information, not just make allegations. While the distinction between information and allegations is often unclear, generalised allegations that lack reasonably specific information that points to one of the “wrongs” listed above are unlikely to be protected (Kilraine v London Borough of Wandsworth [2018] EWCA Civ 1436). 




There is protection even if a belief later turns out to be mistaken, as long as the worker reasonably believed the disclosure to be true when they made it.