1 May 2020
Extract from article written by: David Dawkins, Forbes Staff.
In the U.K., a new law seeking an improvement to the 1998 Public Information Disclosure Act (PIDA) is gathering momentum, and enlisting political support from both sides of the U.K.’s red and blue political divide.
Baroness Kramer, co-chair of the APPG for Whistleblowing tells Forbes that legislation is in the works to create The Office of the Whistleblower, and the early stage proposals have broad support across the political spectrum.
The Office, the first of its kind in the world, would have the powers to meet whistleblowers and act as a point of contact for individuals who wish to make a disclosure. Within the office would be a panel of 20 or more legal representatives to “to advise and support whistleblowers,” while financial obligations would come from a specialist “fund” for individuals whose disclosure is deemed, by the Office, to have harmed their employment, reputation or career.
Baroness Kramer tells Forbes that despite the U.K.’s 1998 legislation, “we really haven't managed to clamp down on retaliation against whistleblowers.” Adding, “So often a whistleblower ends up in an employment tribunal, which was never the issue. The issue was never–were they [a] good or bad employee?” But rather, “Has the issue they've been talking about actually been investigated?”
Kramer is not the only voice to describe whistleblowers as “the canaries in the coal mine” and people who are celebrated by the public but exiled and castigated professionally. Kramer says,
“The public is entirely with the whistleblowers.”
Now the law needs to catch up.