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Case Study
John had worked as a head chef at the Grill restaurant for about 10 years. The restaurant had developed an excellent reputation for both quality of food and levels of service. John was a hard taskmaster in the kitchen, though, and insisted his team maintain the highest standards of food preparation and hygiene levels.
That was until the restaurant was sold to a new owner, whose ideas of high standards differed drastically from the previous regime. John was increasingly frustrated by a number of changes: orders for cleaning materials weren't being forwarded to the suppliers; new staff, who had always attended hygiene training at the restaurant's expense, were being told they couldn't go; and kitchen staff were being cut back.
There was an inevitable slippage of standards. All the staff were under extreme pressure, and John felt he simply wasn't getting the support from the new owner to rectify the situation. In particular, the kitchen and food-prep areas, once a pride and joy to John and his team, were reaching a very poor standard.
When John walked in to the kitchen and saw that they had a cockroach infestation, he immediately telephoned the pest control company, only to be told that their contract had been cancelled. That was the final straw and, in desperation, John telephoned the environmental health department of his local authority and requested that they visit as a matter of urgency in order to expose what was happening with the new owner.
Needless to say, the environmental health officer (EHO) reported a considerable list of deficiencies in standards and requested immediate action. The owner suspected that it was John who had called the EHO in to the premises, and stormed into the kitchen. In front of all the staff, John was reprimanded for his disloyalty to the owner and sacked on the spot.
This case study is a work of fiction and consequently the names, characters and incidents portrayed in the article are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
What the specialist says
ThePublic Interest Disclosure Act 1998 became law on 9 July 1999. It gives legal protection to all employees who "blow the whistle" on their employer in the public interest and disclose information about serious misconduct within their organisation. This includes among other things, health, safety and hygiene malpractice, environmental harm, a miscarriage of justice, or failure to comply with a legal obligation.
Under the act, whistle-blowers are allowed to bring action before an employment tribunal in respect of victimisation or dismissal as a result of the disclosure.
A worker may not be disadvantaged or suffer detriment as a consequence of whistle-blowing. This means that, for example, they cannot have their pay docked.
Does John's case qualify under the act?
The Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) amends the Employment Rights Act 1996. It describes a "qualifying disclosure" as a disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the worker, tends to show one or more of the factors set out in the act.
There are two factors under the PIDA that the subject of John's disclosure will fall under:
That a person has failed, or is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which he or she is subject; and
That the health and safety of any individual has been, or is likely to be endangered.
In the example given above, it is clear that John was concerned about the hygiene standards of the new restaurant owner and the health and safety issues that follow on from that.
Procedures for disclosure
The act sets out a list of bodies and authorities to which a "protected disclosure" can be made, as well as specific methods. So, for example, John, by going to his local authority, complied with this part of the act and has therefore made a protected disclosure to the correct person.
His sacking as a result of the disclosure will be unlawful so, as a result of this new legislation, John can bring a claim against his employer in the employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.
Nick Sheppard is a solicitor specialising in employment law at Howes Percival's Norwich office
Contacts
Nick Sheppard at Howes Percival
01603 762103
Public Interest Disclosure Act
http://194.128.65.3/acts/acts1998/19980023.htm
