Whistleblowing Protection and Raising Health and Safety Issues in the Pandemic: A Legal Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate whistleblowing protection in the UK both theoretically and practically, focusing on the protection of whistleblowers when raising matters of health and safety during the pandemic. From a theoretical standpoint, it is argued that UK legislation on whistleblowing is skewed towards an understanding of whistleblowing as an exceptional individualised response to serious harm rather than as part and parcel of good management in the workplace. In practical terms, this is underscored by the structure of the whistleblowing legislation in the UK which focuses on remedy rather than prevention, internal rather than external reporting mechanisms and individual protection in the face of retaliation by employers. This structuring of the legislation has meant that despite the increase in whistleblowing claims arising in the wake of the pandemic, the success rate of those claims has been low. We are still some way from whistleblowing legislation acting as an effective means of the fight against corruption and as a contribution to the agenda of decent work for all.