‘Get a new job’: Whistleblowing body under fire over lacklustre guidance
A top whistleblowing group is facing criticism today after its boss said her top tip was to “get a new job” before blowing the whistle and the charity allegedly offered guidance that left people unprotected by the law.
Protect, which offers legal guidance and advice to whistleblowers, has been slammed by whistleblowers for failing to protect workers when they sound the alarm on their employers.
Speaking at an industry conference in February, chief of Protect Liz Gardiner told attendees that her “top tip” to would-be whistleblowers was “to get a new job before blowing the whistle”, a source at the event told Morning Wire
Whistleblowers “deserve better” and the UK needed to “normalise whistleblowing which is right and important for society”, the source added.
The comments raise questions over the safety of whistleblowers and point to potential gaps in the national whistleblowing system, in which protection from retribution is enshrined in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, the laws governing whistleblowing.
Protect’s director of policy and communications told City A.M. in an email that “from time to time it may be in the best interest of a whistleblower – if they have experienced or have good reason to fear victimisation – to find a new job before they raise their concerns” and that it will “depend on the nature of the concerns and their individual circumstances”.
“It is not something we advocate for – we set out the options that the whistleblower has,” he added.
Protect says it aims to “make whistleblowing work for individuals, organisations and society” and campaigns for “better legal protection of whistleblowers” and handles upwards of 3,000 calls a year.
However, the group is facing separate allegations from a whistleblower who claims they were left exposed by flimsy advice on its website which scuppered a claim in court.
After receiving a complaint from a whistleblower in 2017 that they had been exposed by Protect’s advice, the group replied that the law “was not the driving force for the messaging” in the policy it advised.
“It is a complex piece of legislation to explain well in one document and an anxious whistleblower could easily be put off by an overly legalistic policy, meaning a culture of silence prevails,” the email, seen by City A.M. read.
After being approached for comment by City A.M. yesterday, the group said “a policy is not the same as legal guidance” and it was “not practical for it to restate whistleblowing law in all its complexity”.
“Our model whistleblowing policy has been reviewed by a respected King’s Counsel,” they added.
Concerns over the safety of whistleblowers have been mounting over the past two weeks after media reports that regulators were failing to handle complaints properly.
City A.M. revealed that the FCA had mistakenly dismissed one whistleblower’s complaints and was forced to apologise.