The UK government is consulting on changes to the legal protection of whistleblowers. These were established through the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 and the Employment Rights Act 1996.
Some of the proposed changes would affect the legal protection of people using food fraud reporting lines.
For example:
- At present, in order to be protected, someone must have "reasonable suspicion that the allegation is true" in if they report an allegation to any regulator. The government is consulting on whether this wording discourages people with less founded suspicions to report, when it would be adventageous for earlier suspicions to be captured.
- The government is considering expanding the list of protected individuals to include non-executive directors, volunteers, and some self-employed contractors.
The consultation closes on 8 January. It can be found here.
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