Protect campaign calls on civil society to help fix the UK’s whistleblowing law

The UK whistleblowing law – the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) – is out-of-date. Too many people who speak up are ignored or victimised. Too many people are not protected by PIDA.

Time and time again we see tragedies and scandals from the Grenfell fire, the Carillion collapse to Dr Li Wenliang in Wuhan alerting the world to Covid 19 – and time and time again we see whistleblowing to be the most effective warning system.

Protect is campaigning for reform of PIDA, the UK’s whistleblowing law. The right to express concerns and not be punished for it is a key part of our freedom of expression and fundamental to our democracy. We want whistleblowers to get the best possible support before, during, and after they raise concerns; as well as access to legal protection, if things go wrong.

Protect is calling for three urgent reforms of PIDA:

• Protection of more people: many groups of people working in the UK are excluded from whistleblowing legal protection, and we need stronger protections.

• Standards for employers: all employers should be required to meet standards for whistleblowing and follow recognised procedures. Tougher enforcement against employers is needed for those who fail to listen or who treat whistleblowers badly.

• Better access to justice for whistleblowers: changes are needed to reduce the burden whistleblowers face at the employment tribunal to ensure whistleblowers can enforce their legal rights.

5 key groups in need of protection:

Whistleblowing law currently protects employees and workers, but it does not include a wide-range of other people in workplace settings. Protect is calling for the UK’s whistleblowing law to be updated to offer protection to the following 5 groups as a priority.