Once a ground-breaking law, the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 which protects whistleblowers in the UK, and which has served as a benchmark for whistleblowing law, is being overtaken by newer, better and broader legislation, in Ireland and Australia, and the new EU Whistleblowing Directive which will be in operation by 2021. Unless the UK … Read more
Public consciousness has swung in favour of whistleblowers who speak up against wrongdoing as they shine a light on malpractice. This in turn has forced organisations to ensure that they have good governance arrangements in place to make them viable, ethical and competitive in today’s workplace culture. A Protect survey conducted by E&Y found 93% of organisations said they have formal whistleblowing arrangements in place however only 43% of UK workers were aware of … Read more
I am a student from the US, studying Psychology and Law, Societies & Justice, who has the amazing opportunity of living and working in the UK and joining the team at Protect for the next seven weeks as an intern. I had a good idea of the work Protect did, but it was not until … Read more
How can we better support whistleblowers and protect them from victimisation? Will new regulations change what we can hope for? These were the themes of the CREW ( Centre for Research on Employment and Work) seminar: ‘Whistleblowing: new regulations, new contexts, same old?’ held at the University of Greenwich. However good the law or company … Read more
Protect attended the Voices of Justice International Conference on Corporate Crime Reporting and Whistleblower’s Protection, organised by the Centre for Financial and Corporate Integrity at Coventry University in partnership with Constantine Cannon, WhistleblowersUK and MLROs.com The conference, held to explore the close relationship between corporate crime reporting and whistleblowing within the public and private sector, … Read more
Is the revelation about Government splits over the role Huawei should play in the rollout of 5G technology within the secretive National Security Council (NSC), an act of reckless leaking, or brave whistleblowing? For many inside and outside of Government, this was a dangerous and corrosive leak. This was the first time the press has … Read more
Julian Assange is back in the limelight, after seven years holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy. Most media and public attention has been focused on the man, while the war atrocities that Wikileaks revealed have not been addressed. Is Assange a hero? A criminal? Someone to be proud of and to defend, or someone who … Read more
Zelda Perkins, former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, discussed non-disclosure agreements in a conversation with equality barrister Karon Monaghan QC at UCL recently. Protect adviser Dugald Johnson went along to hear the discussion. Zelda began by recounting how, after persistent sexual harassment, she and a colleague resigned from Miramax, Weinstein’s film company. She described that the … Read more
Protect welcomes the Kark Review recommendations to give more teeth to the Fit and Proper Persons Test (FPPT) – which is in place to ensure senior staff responsible for quality and safety of care are fit for their roles. Led by Tom Kark QC, the review, commissioned by the government, looks at how effective the … Read more
In response to the #Metoo movement and scandals like the Presidents Club the government are consulting on limiting the use of confidentiality clauses – also known as non-disclosure agreements in sexual and racial harassment cases. The Government’s announcement to Parliament on Monday (March 4) made it clear that non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) have their legitimate … Read more
