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.




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


The disclosure must convey information, not just make allegations. While the distinction is often unclear, someone who makes generalised allegations without providing reasonably specific information to back them up is unlikely to be protected (Kilraine v London Borough of Wandsworth [2016] UKEAT/0260/15/JOJ).



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