WHISTLEBLOWING

Confidential Information

Employees may, in properly carrying out their duties, have access to, or come into contact with, information of a confidential nature. The terms and conditions of their employment provide that except in the proper performance of their duties, employees are forbidden from disclosing or making use of, in any form whatsoever, such confidential information.

Disclosing Information

Regardless of the requirement to keep confidential information private, there might be occasions where the employee becomes aware of information which she/he reasonably believes to show one or more of the following:

• that a criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely to be committed;
• that a person has failed, is failing, or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which he is subject;
• that a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring, or is likely to occur;
• that the health or safety of any individual has been, is being, or is likely to be endangered;
• that the environment has been, is being, or is likely to be damaged;
• that information tending to show any of the above is being, or is likely to be, deliberately concealed.

In such situations the employee should following the disclosure procedure:

Disclosure Procedure

In the first instance, any information which an employee reasonably believes tends to show one or more of the above should promptly be disclosed to his/her manager so that any appropriate action can be taken. If it is inappropriate to make such a disclosure to the manager, the employee should speak to a more senior manager or board member. If the employee does not believe that an acceptable response has been made to the information that has been revealed she/he will be protected if a disclosure is made to an appropriate regulatory body. However, PEL will always endeavour to address any issues that are raised without involvement of outside bodies.

Protection of Employees

Employees will suffer no detriment of any sort for making a disclosure in accordance with this Procedure.

Not Following The Procedure

If an employee does not follow the appropriate procedure then the protection against detriment does not apply. For example, if an employee reports information to the press rather than a regulatory body this is unlikely to be a protected disclosure. If an employee does disclose any information in an inappropriate way disciplinary action may be taken, and this could include dismissal for gross misconduct.