Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen protections for whistle-blowers.

A worker who ‘blows the whistle’ (known as making a ‘protected disclosure’) on certain types of wrongdoing is entitled to protections under the Employment Rights Act 1996 from detriment or dismissal as a result of blowing the whistle, and a route to redress through Employment Tribunals if those protections are infringed.

The Government’s Employment Rights Bill will strengthen protections for whistleblowers, by making it explicit that sexual harassment can be the basis for a protected disclosure. This will mean an employee making a protected disclosure about sexual harassment will be entitled to protection from being subjected to detriment or being dismissed by their employer for speaking out.