Will companies be ready when the whistle blows?
7 April 1999
Trade Secretary Stephen Byers’ announcement that there will be unlimited compensation for whistleblowers and that the Public Disclosure Act will come into force this July has been warmly welcomed.
Guy Dehn, Director of Public Concern at Work, emphasised.
“This means that the full force of the Act will be felt in the City and in boardrooms, as even the highly paid will be fully protected when they blow the whistle. Companies should now review their arrangements for whistleblowing, and check that their contracts comply with the new Act.”
The Public Interest Disclosure Act - which was supported by Government, Opposition and business - is a response to recent disasters and scandals, such as BCCI, Barings, and the Maxwell pension theft. Time and again the official enquiries revealed that employees had been aware of real dangers but had been too scared to sound the alarm. The helpline run by Public Concern at Work has now dealt with over 600 concerns from the private sector.
The announcement ensures that the UK has in place one of the strongest whistleblower laws in the world. The Dutch whistleblower, Paul van Buitenen, whose disclosures led to the resignation of the European Commission earlier this year, has stated that he would not have been suspended by the Commission if such a law had applied to him.
Note
Public Concern at Work was established in 1993, and is the “leading organisation in this field”, according to the Nolan Committee. It was at the forefront of the Public Interest Disclosure Act and has over six years experience in assisting organisations in introducing effective whistleblowing policy.
The charity provides
- free confidential advice to employees concerned about serious malpractice, and
- a whistleblowing policy pack for employers, which contains practical, tools for both staff and management; and tells companies how to comply with the new Act