The Public Concern at Work (PCAW) Organisation has presented a report giving the low down into whistleblowing from the calls it has received to its hotline over a twelve month period. The report entitled “Whistleblowing the inside story” has been published in conjunction with the University of Greenwich and can be found here.
Ethical and financial wrongdoing followed by work safety were the most common themes of the calls. The top industries where it seemed whistleblowing took place were health, education, care, charities, local Government and financial services. Perhaps not overly surprising given the themes of the calls. 74% of those calls concerned wrongdoing outside the workforce which affected a third party with most concerns having been taking place over a period of less than 2 years.
60% of those calling the helpline reported no response from management upon raising the concerns so nothing negative or positive. The remainder found some sort of negative response in action short of dismissal such as demotion, suspension or disciplinary. 33% said that they experienced a formal reprisal when they first raised it.
It therefore seems that the law has a long way to go to address the issues whistle blowers face when coming forward. Experience tells me that the negative responses are not always immediate and much is still to be done in this area.
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