Whistle Blowing in the workplace, Whistleblowing policy and the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998

Whistle Blowing by members of staff and the general public can have a devastating impact on the credibility of a businesses, no matter how large or small but it can also provide commercial advantages. Staff should be encouraged to notify management of illicit acts or actions, which if not identified, would have the potential to cause financial harm, employment difficulties, litigation or bring the business into disrepute.

In relation to employment law, if a member of staff feels he/she has suffered detriment as a result of whistleblowing and the whistleblowing was in the public interest, then he/she has recourse to an Employment Tribunal, where the circumstances are aired in public. Irrespective of the reasons, washing the linen in public, is not to be advised.

Staff are reluctant to identify wrong doing in the work place, simply because they fear retribution, even if an organisation has a whistleblowing policy or hotline; no matter the promise of anonymity staff will always have an inherent fear of being identified.

AAL believe whistleblowing should be encouraged and ALL reported events should be independently investigated by a third party and then a data breach has occurred and a criminal offence committed

If you do not have a whistleblowing policy in place, contact AAL for advice on its presentation. If you are serious about encouraging whistleblowing as a positive aspect to your business, speak to AAL about introducing a hotline monitored by an independent organisation.

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