If you have been dismissed, overlooked, or treated badly after raising a genuine concern about wrongdoing at work, the law gives you strong protection — from your first day of employment.
Whistleblowing law protects workers who make a "qualifying disclosure" — information that, in your reasonable belief, is made in the public interest and tends to show one or more of the following: a criminal offence, a breach of a legal obligation, a miscarriage of justice, danger to someone's health and safety, damage to the environment, or the deliberate concealment of any of these. A disclosure only becomes "protected" once it is made to an appropriate recipient, most commonly your employer, a legal adviser, or a relevant regulator. A general complaint about your own treatment, without an element of wider public interest, will not usually be enough on its own — though it can sometimes overlap with a discrimination or unfair dismissal claim.
If you are dismissed because you made a protected disclosure, this is automatically unfair — and unlike ordinary unfair dismissal, there is no two-year qualifying period. You do not need to have been dismissed to bring a claim at all: being subjected to any detriment because of your disclosure, such as being denied a promotion, excluded from meetings, or subjected to unwarranted disciplinary action, can also give rise to a claim in its own right.
As with discrimination claims, compensation for whistleblowing dismissal or detriment is uncapped, reflecting how seriously the law treats retaliation against people who raise genuine concerns in the public interest. This makes whistleblowing claims some of the highest-value and most closely contested cases we advise on.
Whistleblowing cases often turn on detail: exactly what was said, to whom, when, and whether it meets the legal test for a qualifying disclosure. Keeping a clear record of what you raised and any response you received can make a significant difference to the strength of your case. If you are still employed and considering raising a concern, it is worth taking advice on how to do so in a way that secures the strongest possible legal protection.
Whistleblowing dismissals are frequently disguised as something else — a restructure, a performance issue, or a redundancy — particularly where the disclosure was inconvenient for the employer. If you were dismissed or selected for redundancy shortly after raising a concern, we will consider whether you have a whistleblowing claim alongside any unfair dismissal claim, and whether a settlement agreement offered to you reflects the true strength and value of your position.
Call us on 020 3058 3365 or complete the form for a free, confidential assessment. We will help you understand whether your disclosure is legally protected and what your options are.
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