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Employment law
UK whistleblowing report reveals upsetting statistics
The Public Concern at Work’s report, The UK Whistleblowing Report, revealed some upsetting statistics.
The report looked at whistleblowing in 2013 as well as cases from 2012, a year down the line, in order to discover their outcomes.
What are they key findings from the report?
The whistleblowing charity, Protect, found that only 10% of the cases they reviewed from 2012 were resolved by the employer, in 37% of cases the employer denied that there was a concern, and that in 26% of cases the employer ignored the concern.
Most worrying is the outcome for the individuals who raised their concerns. Less than 10% had a positive reaction. 22% of people were either victimised, disciplined, or both by their employer. Meanwhile, 33% of individuals who blew the whistle were dismissed after raising their concern.
If you are considering blowing the whistle on unlawful practices in your workplace taking legal advice from an employment lawyer can help you to maximise your protection under the law before you raise your concerns.
Why seek legal advice before blowing the whistle?
Over half of the whistleblowers who responded to Protect, were either unfairly dismissed from their job or resigned from their work. In reality, many of those individuals would have had a claim for compensation which they may not have pursued. Taking legal advice will not only ensure you maximise the protection available, but it will also ensure that if you do have a claim, you will know your rights and be able to make an informed decision on whether to pursue it.
Also of interest, Protects UK Whistleblowing Report revealed that 57% of the whistleblowing matters they were contacted about can be attributed to just three employment sectors: education (21%), health (18%) and care (18%).
Despite only representing 13% of the UK’s population, Protect found over a quarter of the calls they received were from Londoners. Does this suggest that Londoners are more conscientious? Or there are more concerns to be raised in London?
How we can help
If you make a protected disclosure you have the right to not be treated badly at work for doing so. If you do experience unfair repercussions after raising a concern about wrongdoing in the workplace you might have a claim for whistleblowing.
The employment solicitors at Slater and Gordon have award-winning whistleblowing expertise. If you are in need of legal advice on whistleblowing call us on 0330 041 5869 for an initial consultation or contact us online. Our initial consultation service is free and completely confidential.
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