Whistleblowers must prove their information is ' in the public interest ' Changes
The 1998 Act originally inserted Part IVA into the Employment Rights Act 1996 ( ERA 1996 ) to provide statutory protection to workers against dismissal and victimisation in respect of specified protected disclosures . Section 17 of the ERRA inserts a ‘ public interest ’ duty into section 43B of the ERA 1996 , which defines those disclosures that qualify for protection . A worker will now have to show that they have a reasonable belief that the disclosure of information ‘ was made in the public interest ’ and that it falls into one of six existing categories of qualifying information . This requirement will come into force on 25 th June 2013 .
Criticism
Whistleblowing is in the public interest but demanding workers overcome an additional statutory definition of public interest results in a number of problems . It will generate considerable uncertainly , as the test further exposes a claimant to the dangers of restrictive judicial interpretation that often fails to act in accordance with the spirit of PIDA . A whistleblower will now have to show that their disclosure is both in the public interest and falls within one of six specified categories of protected information . The classifications all cover public interest concerns relating to a criminal offence , a breach of a legal obligation , a miscarriage of justice , risk to the health and safety of an individual , damage to the environment , and the deliberate concealment of information . The overlap between these and the public interest obligation will create further confusion regarding the convoluted three-tiered legislative regime that already sets out a number of procedural hurdles for claimants to overcome . The new condition of public interest seeks to overturn the 2002 Employment Appeal Tribunal judgment in Parkins v Sodexho which broadly interpreted the ‘ failure to comply with a legal obligation ’ category to include legal obligations arising from a contract of employment . The Explanatory Notes to the ERR Bill justified the imposition of this new requirement as a means of excluding personal rather than public interest disclosures . However , a concern arising out of an individual contract term may still raise public interest issues regarding an employer ’ s compliance with employment or safety laws . The restrictive public interest duty presents further barriers to workers who suffer victimisation or are dismissed for raising concerns at work .
Compensation to be reduced if disclosure not made ' in good faith ' Changes
The second amendment is set out in section 18 of the ERRA and also applies to protected disclosures made after 25 th June 2013 . The section amends the relevant provisions of the ERA 1996 to remove all references to the condition of ‘ good faith ’ in the relevant tests to establish a protected disclosure and transfers it to the sections
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