Protect October Newsletter

Dear 

In this month’s edition: 

• Workers’ rights back in the frame – where does whistleblowing fit in? 
• A whistleblowing victory for common sense for charity trustees  

• New guidance for business leaders on their “Speak Up” cultures 

Anyone with the slightest interest in the employment law landscape will have received a barrage of correspondence this month regarding the government’s new Employment Rights Bill. While the headlines have been dominated with unfair dismissal and other new rights, there’s also a small but significant change to whistleblowing law. 

A new “category of concern” will be added to the existing legislation making it explicit that whistleblowers can raise concerns about sexual harassment (new Clause 18). Prior to the election we had extensive talks with members of the Shadow Cabinet about this issue – so we’re taking this as a win! 

We all know the grievance route can be difficult in cases of sexual harassment and, when the perpetrator is at the top of an organisation, impossible to use for serious misconduct. So this is a welcome clarification. If we want to prevent another Harrods type scandal, we need whistleblowers to have ways of raising concerns, including to regulators or even the press, with the law to protect them when they do. 

This is obviously not enough and we’ll be seeking amendments as the Bill progresses. We are very pleased that former ministers from the three main parties have backed our changes to the Bill to significantly strengthen the power of whistleblowing including; Dame Margaret Hodge, Robert Buckland and Alistair Carmichael.

Elsewhere this month a landmark decision has been handed down by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) which opens the door for UK charity trustees to receive whistleblowing protections. We had taken the step of intervening in the case – brought by the former trustee and President Elect of the British Psychology Society, Nigel MacLennan – and were successful on our two grounds of the appeal. This is a huge win for Nigel who otherwise would have had no remedy, paves the way to widen whistleblowing protections to the approximately one million trustees in the UK and advances our legal reform campaign. Huge thanks to our excellent barristers Jeremy Lewis KC and Mukhtiar Singh who acted for us pro bono on this matter as well as our Solicitors, Keystone Law. 

Coverage of the case: 

• Protection At Last For Charity Trustee Whistleblowers, The Times
• Judge allows appeal in case that could extend whistleblowing protections to trustees, Third Sector

• Tribunal decision opens door for UK trustees to be protected as whistleblowers, UK Fundraising 

• Tribunal raises question of whether trustees should be protected as whistleblowers, Civil Society

• Landmark appeal puts whistleblowing protection back on the table for charity trustees, Cloisters

I had the pleasure of running a training session this month for MPs and their staff to outline their roles as recipients of whistleblowing concerns. MPs hold the special position of “Prescribed Person” and can be approached by whistleblowers who don’t feel able to speak directly to their employer, or want to escalate their concerns if they feel they’ve been ignored or no action has been taken. 

And finally, if you enjoy reading our newsletter, and know someone you think would like it too, please do forward it on – and encourage them to subscribe as well.  

Elizabeth Gardiner, CEO

The Institute of Directors has launched a new policy paper, ‘The Post Office Scandal: A failure of governance’, identifying the lessons that can be learnt from one of the worst miscarriages of justice in UK legal history. The paper makes a series of policy recommendations for government aimed at rebuilding trust in UK corporate governance including our calls to include self-employed contractors within whistleblowing protection, and for all employers to meet standards for whistleblowing. 

This month the Institute has also published its new Code of Conduct for Directors – providing guidance to help business leaders “make better decisions”. Having this guidance is a significant step forward particularly the mandate that Directors should encourage the adoption of "speak up" mechanisms for whistleblowers to report concerns. We hope directors in companies of all sizes will publicly endorse the code and demonstrate they agree that effective whistleblowing is good for business and good for corporate governance. 

The guidance explicitly lays out...

New data published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) this month shows a rise in reported incidents of bullying, sexual harassment and other forms of misconduct across City firms. One of the recommendations from the report is that firms should benchmark their arrangements – something we support wholeheartedly. 

A strong whistleblowing culture brings a range of benefits including early sight of problem issues, allowing employers to act quickly and reduce impact or losses and provides a vital weapon in the fight against fraud.  

But as well as putting the measures in place to foster the positive work culture its essential to regularly check everything is working. Having a whistleblowing policy is just the start – it needs to be backed up with a delivery plan and staff and manager training. We have two diagnostic tools that provide this essential assessment. 

• Our Whistleblowing Scanner is fast and effective and can be completed in under an hour

• Our Whistleblowing Benchmark provides more in-depth analysis, and cross-checks your set-up against your sector. 

Both deliver a baseline and help outline a roadmap for improvement. If you, or someone you know, would like to give either of these test-drive, do get in touch.  

IAW conference

Protect will be taking part in this year’s Integrity at Work Week Online Conference and hosting a dedicated panel discussion on board behaviours and how to move from complacency to curiosity. Our panel will be chaired by our chief exec Liz Gardiner and will include Pav Gill, the Wirecard whistleblower, and Christian Hunt, who runs a bespoke consultancy helping organisations improve their ethics and compliance programme. The week is organised by Transparency International (TI) Ireland and is taking place online from 25 to 28 November.   

We have been given an exclusive promo code Protect-IAWC that will give you a 10% discount if you book before 15 November.  

We have collaborated with the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) to publish new guidance to support whistleblowers in research settings in the UK. Whistleblowing and Breaches of Good Research Practice is intended to support anyone disclosing concerns about research misconduct and seeks to clarify UK whistleblowing law. 

Research and professional services staff can use this guidance to ensure their organisation is doing its part to facilitate a healthy whistleblowing culture and students can use it to understand how their institution can support whistleblowers.  

Preventing Whistleblower Victimisation - 28th Nov

More than half of the callers to our whistleblowing advice line say they've experienced victimisation after blowing the whistle. Its devastating for them and discourages others from speaking up. It doesn't have to be this way - so what can you do to prevent the victimisation of whistleblowers in the workplace? 

Designed with HR teams in mind - this intense 2 hour workshop uses real-life examples to outline the most effective steps to take to prevent victimisation, and ensure your staff have trust and confidence in the system.