Labour Research (April 2018)

Law Queries

Protected disclosures


Q. A member is pursuing a grievance at work, based on not getting on very well with their manager. Could this be a protected disclosure under whistleblowing law?

A. It is highly unlikely that such a grievance will be a protected disclosure, unless the disclosure is in the public interest and the details of the case fall into any of the categories listed below.

In accordance with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, certain protections are afforded to individuals who make qualifying protected disclosures, the definition of which is set out in Section 43B Employment Rights Act 1996.


A qualifying disclosure is disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the disclosing worker, has been made in the public interest and shows at least one of the following:


• a criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely to be committed;


• a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which they are subject;


• a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur;


• the health or safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be endangered;


• the environment has been, is being or is likely to be damaged; or


• information tending to show any matter falling within any one of the preceding paragraphs has been, is being or is likely to be deliberately concealed.





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