Proposed changes to whistle blower protections…
The Government has introduced legislation to provide further protections for whistle blowers and to assist both whistle blowers and their organisations to deal with any disclosures under the Act.
The Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistle Blowers) Bill facilitates disclosure and investigations of serious wrongdoing in the workplace and protects workers who report concerns. The new Bill extends the Act to cover public resources (as well as public funds) and to cover private organisations who have used public funds or resources or exercise a public power to act on behalf of a public sector organisation.
The Bill protects for internal reporting of serious wrongdoing and also reporting to appropriate authorities at any time.
The whistle blower must reasonably believe that there has been a serious wrongdoing in or by the discloser’s organisation. The protections apply if they disclose that serious wrongdoing under the organisation’s internal procedures. If there are no internal procedures, or if they are not appropriate in the circumstances, disclosure can be made to the Head or Deputy Head of the organisation. It also applies if they disclose to the appropriate Authority.
They will be protected even they are mistaken and there is no serious wrongdoing. There is no requirement to say that the disclosure is under the Act or use any particular form of words when making disclosure and the discloser will still be protected even if they have made a technical error in complying with the Act.
The people who can disclose under the Act include current and former employees, contractors, board members and volunteers.
The discloser can also be protected if they get advice on disclosure, for example, seeking legal advice or talking to a spouse or mentor on a confidential basis, about whether they should disclose and how they should disclose.
The Act also provides protection if they disclose to a Minister of the Crown or to the Ombudsman, if they believe the organisation has not acted on their disclosure.
If there is a disclosure under the Act, the organisation must keep the discloser’s identity confidential and must not retaliate or treat them less favourably because of their disclosure. It is unlawful to retaliate or put in place unfavourable treatment and the discloser can go to the Employment Relations Authority or Human Rights Tribunal for damages if that occurs.
The major extensions under the new provisions are that they cover the misuse of public resources as well as public funds, that they now extend to private organisations that use public funds or resources and the remedies available.