Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 and whistleblowing

The whistleblowing charity Public Concern at Work has published a briefing setting out how the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 will amend the law on whistleblowing. It explains that:

• the government has introduced a public interest test in order to close a legal loophole identified in Parkins v Sodexho [2002] IRLR 109, where workers are able to rely on the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) if they suffer detriment for raising concerns about breaches of their own contract of employment. This will require whistleblowers to raise concerns which are in the public interest in order to gain legal protection. This will apply where a qualifying disclosure is made on or after 25 June 2013; and

• the government has extended whistleblowing protection to situations where workers are bullied and harassed by co-workers, a gap in legal protection highlighted by the case of NHS Manchester v Fecitt & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 1190, and testimony to the Robert Francis Inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust. An amendment has introduced personal liability for co-workers who victimise whistleblowers. Employers can be held vicariously liable for these employees unless they can show that they took reasonable steps to prevent victimisation. The amendment became law on 25 June 2013.