You’re a whistleblower if you are a worker and choose to report certain kinds of wrongdoing in a business. This will usually be something you have seen at work, although this is not always the case.
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The wrongdoing, such as fraud, that you disclose should be in the public interest. This means that it affects other people, for example, the general public.
As a whistleblower, you will be protected by the law. You should be not be treated unfairly or lose your job because you have blown the whistle.
You can raise your concerns about an incident that happened in the past at any time, one that is happening, or one that you will believe will happen in the near future.
Who To Tell And What To Expect
If you have concerns, you can tell your employer. They might have a whistleblowing policy in place that tells you what to expect if you report a concern to them. If they do not have a policy like this in place, you can still report your concern to them.
If you don’t want to report your concerns to your employer, which many people don’t, there are some other options. For example, you could get legal advice from a lawyer, an expert agency like Whistleblowerinfocenter.com, or tell a prescribed person or body.
If you tell a prescribed person or body, this should be one that deals with the issue that you are raising, for example, if you’re disclosing wrongdoing at a care home, this should be made to the Care Quality Commission.
Making Your Claim Anonymously Or Confidentially
You can tell your employer or a prescribed body anonymously, but they might not be able to take your claims any further if you haven’t provided them with all the information they need to investigate.
You can give your name but ask for confidentiality. The person you tell should then make every effort to keep your identity a secret.
If you decide to report your concern to the media, in most cases you will lose your whistleblowing law rights.
What Your Employer Or A Prescribed Person Will Do
The person you tell will listen to your concern and decide if further action is needed. You may be asked to give more details.
If you don’t want anyone else to know who raised the concern, make this clear straight away. You will not have a say beyond this how your concern is handled.
The person you told can keep you informed about what action they take, but they likely won’t be able to give you much information if they need to keep the confidence of other people.
A prescribed person will not be able to help you with your relationship with your employer.
If You’re Not Happy With How Your Employer Dealt With Your Concern
Tell someone else, such as a more senior member of staff, or a prescribed person or body if you think your concern has not been taken seriously or that the wrongdoing is still happening.