This policy sets out our approach when the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales (the Commissioner) is contacted by an employee from another organisation who is worried about wrongdoing where they work and want to report it, or ‘blow the whistle’.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) protects employees who blow the whistle about wrongdoing from victimisation by their employers, provided that they blow the whistle in one of the ways set out in PIDA (known as making a protected disclosure). PIDA applies to most employees and includes those employed on a temporary basis or through an agency. An employee who is victimised because they have blown the whistle can take their employer to an employment tribunal to seek redress.
The Commissioner recognises that employees are often the first to realise that there may be something wrong within their organisation and therefore encourages all individuals to raise genuine concerns about wrongdoing at the earliest possible stage.
Whistle-blowing dos and don’ts
If you are concerned about wrongdoing where you work -
Do:
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Make an immediate written record of your concerns noting all relevant details such as dates, names and times.
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Check whether your employer has policies and procedures in place for whistle-blowing (most employers do) and follow them. Pass on your suspicions to someone with the appropriate authority and experience.
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Deal with the matter promptly if you feel that your concerns are justified.
Don’t:
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Do nothing.
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Be afraid of raising your concerns. Your employer must not victimise you if you raise your concerns. Your employer must treat any matter you raise sensitively and confidentially.
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Approach or accuse any individuals directly or try to investigate the matter yourself.
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Pass on your suspicions to anyone who does not have the proper authority.
The role of the Commissioner
The Commissioner is not a ‘prescribed person’ under PIDA. Therefore a disclosure to the Commissioner is a ‘wider’ public disclosure for the purposes of PIDA.
Our overriding concern is to protect the public interest. We will seek to ensure that a disclosure is responsibly made, however PIDA does not require the Commissioner to consider or judge whether a disclosure qualifies for the Act’s protection. The Commissioner’s role is to consider the matters disclosed to it.
PIDA does not require the Commissioner to investigate every disclosure received. We can only go on to investigate disclosures on the basis of the Commissioner’s functions set out in the Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Act.
What types of wrongdoing does this policy apply to?
Concerns raised with the Commissioner under this policy should be about:
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A criminal offence has been committed or is likely to be committed; and/or
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A person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which he is subject; and/or
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A miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur; and/or
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The health or safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be endangered; and/or
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The environment has been, is being or is likely to be damaged; and/or
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Information tending to show any matter above has been, is being or is likely to be deliberately concealed.
For example, such concerns may include malpractice or ill treatment of a patient/client/customer by a member of staff; a breach of any statutory code of practice; unfair discrimination in the provision of services; or unprofessional conduct or conduct below recognised and established standards of practice.
Raising a concern
If you have a concern about wrongdoing within your workplace, you can contact Public Concern at Work who can provide you with independent, free and confidential advice on how to safely and effectively raise a concern. Their helpline can be contacted on 020 7404 6609 or by e-mailing helpline@pcaw.co.uk.
It is good practice for employers to have their own internal whistle-blowing procedures, which should explain how you can raise any concerns. If your employer does have such procedures you should follow them.
It is easier to obtain protection under PIDA if you raise your concern with your employer first, however there is no requirement that you do so. It is recognised that there can be legitimate reasons why an employee would want to raise their concerns outside of their workplace. If you cannot raise your concerns within your workplace, it may be appropriate for you to raise your concerns with a regulator (a ‘prescribed person’).
A disclosure to the Commissioner will be a wider public disclosure. Therefore the grounds for making a public disclosure will need to be satisfied in order for you to be protected by PIDA. You will need a justifiable cause for making a public disclosure and the disclosure must be reasonable. Public Concern at Work can be contacted for advice on how to make a protected disclosure.
Any information received by the Commissioner will be treated sensitively and the Commissioner will investigate matters raised under this policy in a responsible manner.
Raising concerns anonymously
There are additional risks when employees raise their concerns anonymously. It is harder to investigate the concern if we cannot ask follow-up questions. An anonymous disclosure can lead people to focus on the whistleblower, maybe suspecting that he or she is raising the concern maliciously. In addition it can be harder to obtain protection under PIDA. For these reasons we would not encourage concerns to be raised anonymously with the Commissioner, although we will accept anonymous disclosures.
Our procedure when we are approached by a whistle-blower
Stage 1
We will refer all potential whistle-blowers to Public Concern at Work in the first instance for independent and confidential advice. The employee can then approach the Commissioner after receiving advice from Public Concern at Work or if they are unable to help.
Stage 2
If an employee approaches us wishing to blow the whistle, we will check whether we can accept it. We will need to ask procedural related questions to establish at which stage the disclosure is at and whether any other public bodies are investigating the matter. Our focus will therefore be on procedure before the actual substance of the disclosure can be considered.
Stage 3
Once we have ascertained that we can accept the disclosure we will arrange a disclosure interview with the employee. After the interview we will write to the employee explaining what we plan to do with the disclosure. We can only investigate the substance of a disclosure on the basis of the Commissioner’s powers set out in the Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Act. Any steps we take must be pursuant to the discharge of our functions (see Role of the Commissioner for an explanation of these). Allegations of criminal behaviour will be referred to the police and/or appropriate agencies.