Job applicants

Most job applicants who are turned down for work by a prospective employer because they made a protected disclosure in a past job cannot rely on whistleblowing law. Whistleblowing law has no equivalent to the protection offered under the Equality Act 2010 to job applicants who suffer from discrimination.

This is one of the most obvious weaknesses of whistleblowing law. With the exception of the NHS (see below), it fails to protect whistleblowers from blacklisting, both formal and informal, and can lead to years of exclusion from their chosen sector.

The position is now different in the NHS. The Employment Rights Act 1996 (NHS Recruitment — Protected Disclosure) Regulations 2018, prohibit NHS employers from discriminating against job applicants by refusing an application, or otherwise treating the candidate less favourably, because it appears to the employer that the applicant previously made a protected disclosure. The regulations came into force on 23 May 2018 and apply in England, Wales and Scotland.