Raised concerns unresolved

If you have raised your concerns to your employer and you are worried that no action has been taken, you should ask for feedback. We sometimes find that an employer will have taken some steps to address a whistleblower’s concerns but simply not communicated this back to them. Please see our template letter and example asking for feedback here.

A whistleblower does not have a legal right to feedback but it is recognised best practice for an employer to provide as much information as they safely can. Investigations can sometimes be misled by incorrect or false information so an employer who is serious about conducting an effective investigation should involve the whistleblower in the findings.

Feedback is the primary way to know whether your concerns have been resolved and, whether that feedback is positive or negative, you will be better placed to decide your next step.

You should bear in mind that there may be some circumstances where the employer can give only limited or no feedback because of confidentiality – for example, safeguarding concerns about young children.

Please contact us for advice if you have asked for feedback and any of the following have happened:

Andre (not his real name) was a residential social worker in a children’s home. He was increasingly concerned that a colleague, Lionel (not his real name), seemed to have developed a close relationship with a 12 year old girl in the home…

If you have raised your concern with your line manager or someone equivalent and they ignored you or denied any wrongdoing, you may want to escalate the concern to someone more senior. This can often help to bring objectivity and oversight to your concerns as your line manager may be required to justify their decision.

In order to do this, you should find out whether your employer has a Whistleblowing or Speak Up policy which should explain the proper procedure for you to follow. Whistleblowing or Speak Up policies will often have named individuals for you to contact or identify a specific department that handles whistleblowing concerns.

Remember that the Whistleblowing or Speak Up policy is only a guide and not binding on the decisions you make so if there is a different manager or department whom you trust to investigate your concerns, you can consider contacting them, but complying with the whistleblowing policy can show your co-operation with your employer, and reduce the risk of relationships deteriorating.

Keeping notes can be a very helpful thing to do.

We would recommend that you keep a private written record of the major details of your concerns (the who, what, when, where, and how), as well as noting when you raised your concerns, whom you raised the concerns with, and their response.

If you have had verbal conversations with the employer, consider sending a follow-up email so that there is a written record of what was discussed and agreed.

Whether you choose to raise your concerns openly, confidentially or anonymously can have practical implications and affect how easily you can assert your legal rights.

Let’s explore the differences:

Openly raising concerns means that the employer knows who you are and they can tell other people you raised concerns. This can sometimes be the safest option. Openness makes it easier for the employer to investigate and obtain more information about your concern, and it may also encourage other workers to come forward. We appreciate that this is often only possible in workplaces where there is a positive speak up culture.

Confidentially raising concerns means the person to whom you raise your concern knows who you are but promises not to reveal your identity to anyone else. This can be an effective option because it allows for an investigating officer to ask you follow-up questions and minimises the risk of others finding out that you are the source of the information. If victimisation does occur it is easier to prove the link between you raising concerns and being victimised as a result.

Most Whistleblowing or Speak Up policies will give assurances of confidentiality and employers should have mechanisms in place to protect you from any victimisation or negative treatment.

You can ask the employer to investigate the concern in a way that will not reveal you disclosed the information – but this may be difficult where only you could have known about the wrongdoing or the information is particularly unique.

An employer should ask your consent before revealing your identity but sometimes it may be under a legal duty or obligation to reveal your identity.

Anonymously raising concerns means no one knows who you are – not even the person to whom you raise the concern. This may seem an appealing option but the downside is that the person investigating will be unable to ask you for more information, and your employer will be unable to protect you because they do not know who you are. It can also be harder to ask for feedback.

If you experience victimisation it will make it very difficult for you to link it to the fact that you raised whistleblowing concerns because your employer will simply be able to argue that they did not know it was you raising the concerns.

Anonymous disclosures can be an option if it is the only way to raise the matter. If you are unsure – contact us for advice.

Blowing the whistle can be a difficult and lonely experience. We understand that – and we want to help. Whistleblowers should be supported throughout the process so, in the meantime, consider our list of Dos and Don’ts below.

Raising whistleblowing concerns to someone outside of your employer (or ‘making an external disclosure’) can be a difficult decision. There are many factors you will want to consider before taking this step – for example, whether internal escalation is possible, whether the information is sensitive, whether there is a risk of victimisation. These considerations can be particularly complex if you are still working at the employer so calls us for advice if you are unsure.

If you are sure about raising concerns externally, the first question you have might have will be – where do I go?

Find out more here.

We are here to support whistleblowers so please contact us on 0203117  2520 or send us an email if you are unsure about what to do at any stage of the process. You may find helpful our list of Dos and Don’ts: