Public Concern at Work - The UK Whistleblowing Report

The Whistleblowing Charity, Public Concern at Work, have published their latest report which analyses data from calls made to its whistleblowing advice line in 2014.  Calls are made from people at various stages of raising their concerns. 

Headlines from the report include:

  • The top issue being raised was financial malpractice
  • In most cases (52%) the employer’s response was to deny or ignore whistleblowing concerns
  • Half of the whistleblowers who contacted the advice line reported that they were dismissed or resigned after raising their concern
  • 8 out of 10 whistleblowers suffered some form of reprisal (e.g. bullying)

Most calls to the advice line came from the education sector (22%) followed by the care sector (17%).  Calls from the charities sector were at 6%. 

The report indicates that organisations should be doing more to ensure that staff feel able to raise concerns and that those concerns are dealt with appropriately.  For those charities providing services in the public sector, demonstrating that your organisation has processes in place for dealing with such matters may be a key factor in any procurement process.

The report also highlighted that, in the care sector, staff were more likely to raise their concerns outside of the organisation, which will of course carry significant reputational risks.

 

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