Employment law SOS: whistle blowing

Since 1998 the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) has protected employees who 'blow the whistle' or, as it is more properly called, make "protected disclosures". There are two levels of protection for whistleblowers. The dismissal of an employee will be automatically unfair if the reason, or principal reason, for their dismissal is that they have made a protected disclosure. It also protects employees from being subjected to any detriment on the ground that they have made a protected disclosure. There is no cap on compensation in whistle blowing claims and no requirement for a minimum period of service. In order to seek such protection, an employee must make a disclosure of information relating to one of six types of qualifying disclosure. One type of qualifying disclosure relates to a criminal offence being committed. This would include making bribes to secure work overseas in breach of the Bribery Act 2010. It is also important that the employer has a reasonable belief that the disclosure is in the public interest. On the few facts we have here, this would appear to be the case. Under the PIDA, protected disclosures should be made initially to the employer as this is the primary method of whistle blowing. Disclosures to third parties may be protected if more stringent conditions are met, which may be the case if the employer fails to act on the disclosure. The CEO of Olympus, Michael Woodford, was sacked by the Japanese company in 2012 after questioning dubious acquisition payments and subsequently won a £10 million out of court settlement from the company.