Take advice before whistleblowing!

Whistleblowing law is extremely complicated, and the information set out above is a summary only. Anyone contemplating blowing the whistle should take expert advice as soon as possible and talk to their union. The BEIS business department non-statutory code of practice strongly discourages disclosure to the media, for example, warning that: “if a worker goes to the media, they can expect in most cases to lose their whistleblowing law rights”

One of the best sources of advice is the Protect national specialist charity (previously known as Public Concern at Work). The charity runs a confidential whistleblowing Advice Line: 020 3117 2520 (https://protect-advice.org.uk).

LRD has produced a more comprehensive guide to this area of the law in the October 2019 booklet for union reps, Whistleblowing.