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 sets out 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 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;

• the goverment will extend 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 will introduce personal liability for co-workers who victimise whistleblowers. Employers can then be held vicariously liable for these employees unless they can show that they took reasonable steps to prevent victimisation. The government has not yet confirmed when this will be implemented.