You are a whistleblower if you are a worker and you report certain types of wrongdoing. As a whistleblower you are protected by law, and you should not be treated unfairly or lose your job because you blow the whistle. A protected disclosure is a qualifying disclosure that a worker makes to one of the people listed in sections 43C to 43H of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
Key points
✓An employee who is dismissed is regarded as unfairly dismissed if the reason, or the principal reason, for the dismissal is that they made a protected disclosure.
✓The qualifying period for unfair dismissal does not apply if section 103A applies, so you do not need two years of service.
✓A disclosure qualifies if, in your reasonable belief, it is made in the public interest and tends to show a criminal offence, a failure to comply with a legal obligation, a miscarriage of justice, a danger to someone's health or safety, sexual harassment (added from 6 April 2026), damage to the environment, or the deliberate concealment of any of these.
✓You also have the right not to be subjected to any detriment by your employer for making a protected disclosure, and colleagues and agents of your employer are covered too.
✓If you are dismissed, you may be able to apply for interim relief, but the application must be made within seven days of the date your employment ends.
What is a protected disclosure?
A qualifying disclosure is any disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the worker making the disclosure, is made in the public interest and tends to show one or more of the following:
✓Yes: That a criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely to be committed
✓Yes: That a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which they are subject
✓Yes: That a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur
✓Yes: That the health or safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be endangered
✓Yes: That sexual harassment has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur (added from 6 April 2026)
✓Yes: That the environment has been, is being or is likely to be damaged
✓Yes: That information tending to show any matter falling within any one of the preceding paragraphs has been, is being or is likely to be deliberately concealed
The wrongdoing you disclose must be in the public interest. This means it must affect others, for example the general public.
There is a different whistleblowing process in Northern Ireland, so this page covers Great Britain.
Who is protected?
You are protected if you are a worker, for example an employee, a trainee such as a student nurse, an agency worker, or a member of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
For protected disclosures, the Employment Rights Act 1996 also counts these people as workers:
✓Yes: Someone who is introduced or supplied to do the work by a third person, where the terms are in practice substantially determined by the person they work for, the third person or both of them
✓Yes: A contractor who does work for a person's business in a place not under that person's control or management
✓Yes: Someone performing services under a contract with NHS England, a Local Health Board or a Health Board
✓Yes: Someone on work experience as part of a course of education or training approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council
✓Yes: Someone on a training course or programme, or training for employment, other than under a contract of employment or at an educational establishment on a course it runs
For a worker introduced or supplied by a third person, the employer includes the person who substantially determines the terms on which they are engaged.
An NHS employer must not discriminate against an applicant because it appears to the NHS employer that the applicant has made a protected disclosure. The Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland.
To whom must the disclosure be made?
The route you choose decides what the law asks of you:
Route
What the law asks
Your employer
A qualifying disclosure to your employer is made in accordance with section 43C. Where you reasonably believe the failure relates solely or mainly to someone else's conduct, or to something someone else has legal responsibility for, you can make it to that other person. You can still report your concern to your employer if they do not have a whistleblowing policy.
A prescribed person
You must make the disclosure to a person prescribed by an order for this purpose, and reasonably believe the failure falls within the matters they are prescribed for. The prescribed person must be one that deals with the issue you are raising. You must also reasonably believe that the information and any allegation in it are substantially true.
A legal adviser, your MP or your MSP
In addition, you can also blow the whistle to your legal adviser, your MP or your MSP.
Wider disclosure (for example the press)
You must reasonably believe the information and any allegation are substantially true, not act for personal gain, meet one of three conditions, and it must be reasonable in all the circumstances. The conditions are a reasonable belief that you will suffer a detriment if you tell your employer or a prescribed person, a reasonable belief that evidence will be concealed or destroyed where no person is prescribed, or a previous disclosure of substantially the same information to your employer or a prescribed person. If you report your concern to the media, in most cases you will lose your whistleblowing law rights.
Exceptionally serious failure
You must reasonably believe the information and any allegation are substantially true, not act for personal gain, the failure must be of an exceptionally serious nature, and it must be reasonable in all the circumstances to make the disclosure.
What protection do you get?
If you make a protected disclosure, you are protected from:
✓Yes: Dismissal: you are regarded as unfairly dismissed if the reason, or principal reason, for the dismissal is that you made a protected disclosure
✓Yes: Detriment: your employer must not subject you to any detriment, by any act or deliberate failure to act, on the ground that you made a protected disclosure
✓Yes: Detriment by colleagues and agents: a detriment done by another worker of your employer in the course of their employment, or by your employer's agent with its authority, is treated as also done by your employer
✓Yes: Gagging clauses: confidentiality clauses are not valid if you are a worker and they try to prevent you from making a whistleblowing disclosure
The qualifying period for unfair dismissal does not apply if section 103A applies, so you do not need two years of service to claim. The limit on the compensatory award in section 124(1) does not apply where a person is regarded as unfairly dismissed by virtue of section 103A.
Section 47B does not apply where you are an employee and the detriment amounts to dismissal. A dismissal for making a protected disclosure is covered by section 103A instead. Your employer has a defence to a claim about a colleague's act if it took all reasonable steps to prevent the colleague from doing it. A confidentiality clause in a settlement agreement could still be valid if it tries to prevent you from making another kind of disclosure.
What is NOT a protected disclosure?
These situations are not covered:
✗No: A personal grievance, unless your particular case is in the public interest
✗No: A disclosure where the person making it commits an offence by making it
✗No: Information covered by legal professional privilege, if the person making the disclosure learned it in the course of obtaining legal advice
✗No: A disclosure to a prescribed person or more widely where you do not reasonably believe the information and any allegation in it are substantially true
✗No: A wider disclosure made for purposes of personal gain
✗No: A report to the media, which in most cases loses your whistleblowing law rights
Report a personal grievance under your employer's grievance policy. You can get further information from Acas, Citizens' Advice, the whistleblowing charity Protect or your trade union.
What to do if you are dismissed or treated unfairly for whistleblowing
1
Raise a grievance if you are still in the job
You can raise a formal grievance if you feel raising it informally has not worked, you do not want it dealt with informally, or it is a very serious issue, for example sexual harassment or whistleblowing.
2
Work out your time limit
If your problem happened on or after 1 October 2026 you have 6 months minus 1 day for most claims, and if it happened before 1 October 2026 you have 3 months minus 1 day for most claims. For unfair dismissal, the time limit in most cases starts from either the last day of your notice period, or the date you were dismissed if your employer did not give you notice. Going through grievance, disciplinary or appeal procedures does not change your time limit.
3
Consider interim relief if you were dismissed
In some unfair dismissal situations you can apply for interim relief. The time limit is 7 days and you might not need to notify Acas. A tribunal will not entertain an application for interim relief unless it is presented before the end of the period of seven days immediately following the effective date of termination.
4
Tell Acas
Before you make a claim to an employment tribunal, you must tell Acas, and you will usually need an early conciliation certificate for each respondent before you make a claim. Early conciliation is voluntary, and you and your employer can choose whether to take part. If you have questions about how early conciliation works, call the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100.
5
Make your claim
You can take a case to an employment tribunal if you have been treated unfairly because you have blown the whistle. If you reported your concern anonymously, you may find it harder to argue that your unfair treatment was as a result of your whistleblowing.
The Government's list of prescribed people and bodies includes:
Area
Prescribed person and what you can contact them about
Financial services
The Financial Conduct Authority, for the conduct of funds, markets, firms and individuals subject to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, including banks, building societies, consumer credit and investment or insurance businesses. The Prudential Regulation Authority, for matters relating to deposit-taking business, insurance business or investment business and the safety and soundness of persons authorised for such purposes.
Inside a financial firm
FCA rule SYSC 18.3.1 says a firm must establish, implement and maintain appropriate and effective arrangements for the disclosure of reportable concerns by whistleblowers, including reasonable measures to ensure that no person under the firm's control victimises a whistleblower.
Health and social care
The Care Quality Commission, for matters relating to the provision of health and social care. A disclosure about wrongdoing in a care home can be made to the Care Quality Commission.
Children's social care
His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills, for matters relating to regulation and inspection of children's social care.
Health and safety at work
The Health and Safety Executive, for the health and safety of individuals at work, or the health and safety of the public arising out of or in connection with the activities of persons at work.
Tax
HM Revenue and Customs, for the administration of UK taxes, the administration of national insurance and tax credits systems, customs and border-related functions, and criminal investigations.
Data protection
The Information Commissioner, for compliance with the requirement of legislation relating to data protection and to freedom of information.
The environment
The Environment Agency, for acts and omissions which have an actual or potential effect on the environment, including pollution control, water quality and resources, and conservation and ecology.
A protected disclosure is a qualifying disclosure that a worker makes to one of the people listed in sections 43C to 43H of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The wrongdoing you disclose must be in the public interest, which means it must affect others, for example the general public.
Do you need to have worked for 2 years to be protected as a whistleblower?
No. Section 108 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 says the qualifying period for unfair dismissal does not apply if section 103A applies.
Can you be sacked for whistleblowing?
An employee who is dismissed is regarded as unfairly dismissed if the reason, or the principal reason, for the dismissal is that they made a protected disclosure. You may be able to apply for interim relief, but the application must be presented within seven days of the effective date of termination. For most claims, you have 6 months minus 1 day if your problem happened on or after 1 October 2026, and 3 months minus 1 day if it happened before.
Is a personal grievance protected as whistleblowing?
Personal grievances are not covered by whistleblowing law, unless your particular case is in the public interest. Report these under your employer's grievance policy.
Who can I report whistleblowing concerns to?
You can tell your employer, and you can still report your concern to them if they do not have a whistleblowing policy. You can also blow the whistle to a prescribed person or body, your legal adviser, your MP or your MSP. If you report your concern to the media, in most cases you will lose your whistleblowing law rights. You can get further information from Acas, Citizens' Advice, the whistleblowing charity Protect or your trade union.
Know Your Rights UK. "Whistleblowing Rights UK: Protected Disclosures." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/employment/whistleblowing