March Newsletter

Dear ,

• New laws and old battles for protection
• Protect in the media
• Inside our services: chat with our Client Services Director, Jon Cunningham.

Regular readers won’t need reminding, but a significant legal reform will take place on 6 April as sexual harassment becomes a category of concern under whistleblowing law. Elizabeth took part in a Personnel Today webinar discussing what this means for employers and for whistleblowers. As part of a raft of changes in the Employment Rights Act, preventing sexual harassment  is going to feature on many employers’ agendas this year.

In more concerning news, we are disappointed by the most recent Employment Tribunal decision in the case of Dr N. MacLennan v The British Psychological Society, which found that Dr MacLennan, a charity trustee, was not protected under whistleblowing law. An earlier Employment Appeal Tribunal decision had opened the door for protections for this group. Trustees are expected to blow the whistle if they discover wrongdoing, yet they risk being unprotected if they suffer as a result. This judgment may be appealed, but Parliament should change the law to clarify who is protected.

Our latest Members’ Forum once again brought organisations together to share experiences, challenges and lessons from real whistleblowing cases in a supportive and confidential space. Our Forums encourage learning and sharing best practice. We know getting whistleblowing right isn’t easy, and you’re not alone in the challenges you may face.

Elizabeth Gardiner & Sybille Raphael
Protect Joint-Chief Executives

Members’ Forum

We hosted another successful Members’ Forum this month, bringing our members together online to share experiences, insights and challenges around whistleblowing policies and real whistleblower cases in a supportive, confidential space.

Led by Protect’s whistleblowing experts, these sessions are consistently highly rated by members and provide a valuable opportunity to learn from peers and discuss best practice. The forum is included as part of the whistleblowing membership we offer to organisations through our business support services. 

Protect in the Media

It’s been a busy month for Protect in the media, with whistleblowing in the spotlight across both the public and financial sectors.

Protect featured in coverage of governance reforms at Cambridgeshire County Council, where the importance of strong whistleblowing arrangements was highlighted as part of efforts to improve transparency and accountability in local government.

Our Policy Director, Andrew Pepper-Parsons, was quoted in Civil Society about the MacLennan v The British Psychological Society judgment, highlighting how unfair it is to leave whistleblowers to extend protection via the courts, and stressing that the Government needs to step in and review who should and shouldn’t be protected by whistleblowing laws.

Our impact report was covered in Civil Society, noting the rise in the number of calls from the charity sector. We recorded a 37% year-on-year rise in calls from the charitable sector, with an increase in volunteers reporting concerns. This suggests that people beyond paid staff are increasingly aware of the importance of speaking up when they witness wrongdoing; critically these people are not protected by legislation. Read more.

Whistleblowing was also discussed in the financial press, with The Banker examining whether regulators should introduce financial incentives for whistleblowers and highlighting the risks many still face when speaking up.

Events

Protect recently took part in a webinar with Personnel Today on sexual harassment and whistleblowing under the Employment Rights Act. Our Joint CEO, Elizabeth Gardiner, joined the panel to share insights on how the law is evolving and what it means for employers.

It was a great discussion on why a strong speak-up cultures matters - especially as more people raise concerns about issues like sexual harassment through whistleblowing channels. We are hosting a new sexual harassment masterclass, get your ticket now. 

Protect also participated in the launch of the Clean and Green Manifesto in Parliament on 12 March 2026, led by Transparency International UK and supported by over 30 organisations, contributing to discussions on strengthening protections for whistleblowers as a key mechanism for exposing and addressing environmental harm. Read the manifesto here.

What can we do for you? – Talk to our client services Director, Jon Cunningham.

Building an effective whistleblowing framework can be complex. We asked Jon, our Client Relationship Director, who has spent 14 years at Protect working closely with organisations (it’s fair to say he knows this space inside out) to share his insights on what organisations can expect when working with Protect, the common challenges they face, and the real impact of getting whistleblowing right.

Regulators and whistleblowers – who shapes employer culture?

On Wednesday 25^th March we held a round table event with 14 regulators examining the role regulators can play in shaping the whistleblowing cultures of the organisations they regulate. We discussed the role and importance of regulators in persuading - and in some cases requiring - the organisations they regulate to have effective whistleblowing arrangements. If you work for a regulator and want to get involved in the project, please contact our Director of Policy: andrew@protect-advice.org.uk

Upcoming training dates

We’ve got three fantastic training sessions coming up designed to help you build stronger, safer speak-up cultures and handle whistleblowing effectively:

• Investigating a Whistleblowing Concern - Thu 30 Apr 2026, 10:00 - 12:00 BST (online)
• Face to Face - Whistleblowing Training - Thu 14 May 2026 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM BST
• Preventing Whistleblower Victimisation - Wed 20 May 2026 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM BST

• Taming the Toxic: Whistleblowing and Non-Financial Misconduct Masterclass - Tue 19 May 2026 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM BST

Whether you’re involved in HR, compliance, legal, internal audit or governance, these sessions will give you practical insights and tools to support whistleblowers and strengthen your organisation’s approach to speaking up.

This is the year’s agenda for our member’s’ events;, get in touch with us to find out more about how you can access these opportunities:

• 22 April – Investigators Drop-in – 09:30-10:30am
• 03 June – Members’ Forum – 09:30-10:30am
• 23 September – Members’ Forum – 09:30-10:30am
• 04 November – Investigators Drop-in – 09:30-10:30am

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If you're interested in learning more about whistleblowing around the world, please subscribe to the Whistleblowing International Network's Global Update Newsletter, available here: https://whistleblowingnetwork.org/Learn/Newsletter.