A research report published this July by the new Labour government has painted a devastating picture of the failure of the culture of the whistleblower system in the United Kingdom.

The report, originally commissioned by the Tories under Rishi Sunak, and undertaken by researchers at Grant Thornton, one of the big accountancy firms, pulls no punches. It reveals how whistleblowers, whether in industry, the NHS and other public bodies, see a failure by the courts, employers, and even those appointed to help them, to protect them.

The sad news is the report, commissioned by the Department of Business and Trade, looks like remaining on the shelf – and the one improvement planned by the justice ministry could make matters worse. It plans to appoint 50 new employment tribunal judges to handle an increase in whistleblowing cases, among other issues, following the implementation of the new Employment Rights Act. For those who follow my blogs, they will know, they are more than often part of the problem, not the solution.

For a start whistleblowers found the terms used to describe whistleblowers as vague and confusing.

The report notes that terms like “reasonable belief,” “public interest,” and “worker” are seen as subjective, vague, inconsistent, and narrow, creating uncertainty about whether protections actually apply. One whistleblower expressed surprise when an Employment Tribunal decided their concerns didn’t meet legislative requirements despite their employer telling them they did.

The majority of whistleblower participants reported feeling victimized by their employer after blowing the whistle. The research found that many whistleblowers believed the framework doesn’t provide effective protection in practice. The “protection” offered is essentially just the right to seek redress after harm has already occurred, not proactive prevention of retaliation.

Multiple barriers for whistleblowers

Multiple barriers existed for whistleblowers when their case came before an employment tribunal. These included:

Resource imbalance: They lacked time, money, knowledge, and skills compared to their employers Mental toll: The process was described as complex, draining, and requiring resilience many didn’t have Evidential burden: Proving detriment was directly related to their disclosure was extremely challenging Delays: Tribunals experience significant delays

Time limits: Strict deadlines created additional barriers

Unfair treatment: Limited access to evidence and risks around non-disclosure agreements

Lack of trust: Many didn’t believe tribunals would be balanced or deliver meaningful

Nor did whistleblowers find people designated to help them such as regulators much good.

They found they could not protect them from detriments or victimisation. Some were conflicted particularly where there had been regulatory failure.

Several whistleblowers stated it was “not easy” to blow the whistle internally: They found:

• Little faith in the process based on previous experience
• Fear of retaliation after hearing stories from others
• Restrictions from non-disclosure agreements
• Conflicts of interest when those receiving reports were implicated
• Lack of independence in investigations
• Concerns not being properly investigated or addressed
• No feedback or perceived remedies

The report describes the huge tolls on whistleblowers. At employment tribunals,phrases from whistleblowers included: public execution,exhausting, beyond difficult, miserable. complex, ardous, horrible and abusive, soul destroying,toxic and unsafe.

Litigants in person fared worse with descriptions that they were not treated respectfully by judges, lawyers and other parties and that they were not impartial.

Many stated they would not blow the whistle again due to negative experiences

Cases that involved international jurisdictions were even more complicated with slow co-operation from countries and regulators abroad.

The report makes suggestions for change. These are:

• create a central body for whistleblowing
• ongoing engagement and research to assess and monitor all aspects of the GB
  framework
• efforts to improve effectiveness should be multifaceted and monitored
• improved mental health support for individuals
• legal advice and a degree of financial security while the claim progresses
• consideration of disincentives and incentives, for example implementation of a United
  States style reward system

I contacted the ministry about the report:

A Government spokesperson said:

“The Employment Rights Bill will strengthen protections for whistleblowers reporting sexual harassment at work and extend time limits for bringing tribunal claims from three to six months.

“We are also fixing the employment tribunal system by ensuring more cases are resolved before reaching them and recruiting more Employment Judges.”

They said that didn’t regard the report’s conclusions as firm recommendations and many of the suggestions were outside the remit of the ministry.

The full report can be read here.

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