An Understanding of the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA)
The Public Interest Disclosure Act of 1998 (PIDA) was introduced in response to a series of disasters that showed a need for protection for workers who highlighted safety failings. Hitherto no formal protection had existed for employees in such circumstances. It was believed that this lack of protection had led to many rail and ferry disasters. These disasters could’ve been avoided or the impact lessened if disclosure provisions had been in place.
Why Whistleblowers Need Protection
A worker is protected from dismissal if they disclose information to their employer within certain defined categories. These categories include a criminal offence being committed, a breach of a legal obligation, the health and safety of an individual being endangered, environmental damage, and/or that information relating to any of the above is being withheld.
Criteria for a Protected Disclosure
Any such disclosure must also be in the public interest, and the person making the complaint needs to be able to show that some detriment has been caused to them, which is why the complaint has been made.
How Reasonable Is the Employee’s Belief?
One particular point of interest concerns the belief held by the worker and whether that belief that there has been one of the breaches listed above is correct/ true. That is a difficult question as the normal legal requirement would be to show that the belief was a reasonable one. So it follows that it would either need to be subjectively correct, in the mind of the employee making the protected disclosure, or objectively correct. The usual position taken is that if looked at by an independent person is this a reasonable belief to have?
The Tribunal’s Role in Analysing Belief
The belief in a breach under PIDA only has to be reasonable from the viewpoint of the person making the disclosure. There does not have to be a breach at all for that belief to arise. For example, if an employee alleges that their employer is falsifying the company accounts and is dismissed for having made that allegation, it does not matter if the allegation is true. What matters is that the employee who made this allegation believes that the allegation is true and that it was reasonable for them to have taken this view.
It follows from this that when a dispute arises, the employment tribunal can only justifiably assess whether a given belief was reasonable by stepping into the shoes of the employee. This is so that the employees’ words and actions during the making of the disclosure can be properly looked at. The key test is whether the employee’s belief was reasonable, regardless of whether it was ultimately true. It is also the case that the belief of the employer decision-maker as to whether the allegation is true or not is irrelevant.
Seeking Legal Advice?
This is a highly complex area of the law and full legal advice should always be sought in these cases.
Feel free to contact our solicitors if you need legal advice regarding whistleblowing claims or the PIDA.
