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Protect – Speak up stop harm
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Free, confidential whistleblowing advice
Call us on 020 3117 2520 or email us

Covid-19 one year on: Protect remembers lives lost and thanks whistleblowers for speaking up to stop harm

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Protect will be taking part in the national day of refection and one minute’s silence on March 23 at midday to reflect on the lives lost in the pandemic one year on – and to also thank the many whistleblowers who spoke out on Covid-19 concerns. Chief Executive Liz Gardiner said, “We will join the ... Read more

Teacher speaks up over student safeguarding concerns

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Niamh (not her real name) was a teacher in a special needs school and had safeguarding concerns surrounding the behaviour of one of the other teachers at the school. Niamh witnessed a teacher showing her colleagues a sexually explicit image of one of the students. The same teacher also spoke inappropriately about her own sex ... Read more

Food factory worker raises concerns over lack of COVID-19 safety measures

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Katie (not her real name) was a manager in a food manufacturing factory. She had a number of health and safety practice concerns around COVID-19. While Katie’s employer had some safety measures in place, she was concerned that the factory had not been effectively cleaned and decontaminated, and several employees had tested positive for COVID-19 ... Read more

Accountant speaks up over construction company’s financial malpractice

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Robert (not his real name) was an accountant at a construction company. He was concerned that his employer was committing fraud. In particular, Robert believed his employer was processing personal transactions with company finances, creating fake employees on payroll records, and falsifying company invoices. Robert raised these concerns with his manager. Unfortunately, his manager dismissed ... Read more

Protect responds to Sheldon Review

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The long-awaited Sheldon review into child sexual abuse in football makes disturbing reading.  While the abuse is historic, the report is clear that lessons can still be learned.  There are some strong recommendations about safeguarding training from Board level to the young people and their parents, about establishing a child-first culture and about developing greater ... Read more

The power of Parliamentary Privilege – but not so for Scottish MPs

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One rule for one, and one for another is fitting when comparing Parliamentary privilege between Westminster and Holroyd, for as it stands, Scottish MPs are very much unprivileged. This week in Parliament, MP David Davis spoke about the Holyrood inquiry investigating how the Scottish Government handled sexual harassment complaints against former First Minister Alex Salmon.  ... Read more

Protect to offer investigation training in partnership with law firm Gowling WLG

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A new interactive whistleblowing investigation course, looking at best practice handling and how to avoid the common pitfalls, is now available to senior managers responsible for internal arrangements and whistleblowing culture. Protect’s Development Director Jon Cunningham, said, “How an organisation responds to a whistleblower can be critical to ensuring staff trust and confidence in the … Read more

Protect welcomes Chancellor’s new Covid-19 taskforce 

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The Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in his Budget, the creation of a new Covid-19 taskforce – the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce – to investigate and sanction fraudulent abuses of Covid-19 relief schemes. Whilst Protect welcomes this response to tackle fraud against taxpayers, we would also like to call on the government to follow whistleblowing best practice, particularly by ensuring whistleblowers who speak out about furlough fraud, do not get penalised.   At the ... Read more

Protect welcome report into global whistleblowing laws

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A report by the International Bar Association and the Government Accountability Project, examines the successes and shortcomings of whistleblower laws in 38 countries. The report, Are Whistleblowing Laws Working? A Global Study of Whistleblower Protection Litigation,which began in 2018, examines the strength of national laws on paper, compared with consensus international best practice. It found although almost a ... Read more

Victory for Uber drivers as Supreme Court says they are workers not contractors

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After the long-awaited appeal, Protect welcomes the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Uber BV v Aslam as a striking victory for Uber drivers in the UK - and potentially workers within the wider gig economy. The Court unanimously dismissed Uber’s appeal and upheld the first instance decision that Uber drivers are not independent contractors, but are indeed ... Read more