28 November 2013

Public Concern at Work (PCAW), a whistleblowing charity, has released its Whistleblowing Commission Report, recommending a new Code of Practice on whistleblowing arrangements in the workplace and the prohibition of unjust acts such as blacklisting whistleblowers.

The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) submitted evidence to the Commission in July, and we are delighted to announce that many of the issues highlighted in our report have fed into PCAW's recommendations.

Authoring a response to the charity's consultation on behalf of the IER, Senior Lecturer at University of East London's School of Law and Social Sciences Catherine Hobby said: "In its failure to cover blacklisting, PIDA allows an employer to refuse employment to a prospective applicant with a history of whistleblowing and the whistleblower will have no cause of action.

"Whistleblowers need to be protected from post-termination victimisation by former employers, but also from prospective employers," she added.

The IER has been raising awareness of and providing recommendations for the abolition of blacklisting for years and we are proud that PCAW has included within its recommendations that legislation should include "specific provisions against the blacklisting of whistleblowers".

Other PCAW recommendations the IER provided evidence towards include strengthening anti-gagging law, improving legal protection for whistleblowers within the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), providing specialist training for tribunal members on the handling of whistleblowing cases, and updating and broadening the legal definition of "worker" in order to cover more individuals under the law.

The main recommendation of the PCAW was that a Code of Practice drafted by the charity should be adopted by the government, taken into account by courts and tribunals and promoted by regulators.

It also recommends that regulators should review the license or registration of organisations without effective whistleblowing arrangements in place and be more transparent about their own whistleblowing arrangements.

"A radical reform of PIDA is required to provide effective safeguards to those who blow the whistle," Catherine Hobby said.

"The 1998 Act may have given some assistance to workers victimised for raising public interest concerns, not least in the settlement of claims, but amendments are required to ensure the protective provisions are effective.

"If workers are not fully protected they will fear blowing the whistle and allegations of malpractice, illegality, abuse, financial irregularity, and misdeeds will be lost," she concluded.