Under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA), an employee is given certain protection if he discloses information about alleged wrong doings.  He is entitled not to suffer any detriment as a result of the disclosure and is entitled not to be dismissed.  A dismissal on the grounds of making a protected disclosure would be automatically unfair.

In order to be protected by the Act, the disclosure must be made by a worker and must be a ‘qualifying disclosure’, which is in the reasonable belief of the worker, showing one or more of the following types of wrong doing:

1. A criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely to be committed
2. That a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with a legal obligation
3. That a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur
4. That the health and safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be endangered
5. That the environment has been, is being, or is likely to be damaged
6. That information tending to show any matter falling within any one of the above has been is being or is likely to be concealed.

The ‘protected disclosure’ must be also made to one of the following categories of people:-

1. To the workers employer
2. To a legal adviser in the course of obtaining legal advice
3. To a Minister of the Crown (where the employer is a Minister of the Crown or appointed by a Minister of the Crown)
4. To a person prescribed by order made by the Secretary of State.

An employee can also make a ‘protected disclosure’ to persons other than those listed above, but only if the worker makes the disclosure in good faith, believes the disclosure to be true and does not make the disclosure for personal gain.  A number of conditions must also be satisfied:-

1. That the worker reasonably believes that he would be subject to detriment if he made the disclosure to any of the above
2. That the worker believes that evidence relating to the wrong doing may be concealed or destroyed
3. That the worker has previously made a disclosure of substantially the same information to the employer or other prescribed person.

If an employee is subjected to detriment or dismissal as a result of making the ‘protected disclosure’, he can make a complaint to the ET.  As with other types of claims, the claims must be lodged at the ET within three months of the date of dismissal, or three months of the act complained of.

If you have any queries regarding whistleblowing, or have had a claim made against you, please contact us.