Paul Brennan, legal counsel at FAST, said:
"It is extremely encouraging to see that
people are willing to lift the lid on unethical practice despite
being unaware that there are laws existing to protect them."
Of 2,232 respondents, 65% were unaware of laws that would
protect them from action by employers in the event of
whistleblowing.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 can protect employees
who report their employers' criminal offences or failure to comply
with any legal obligation. If sacked, an employee could bring a
case before an Employment Tribunal.
The Tribunal can make an award to the employee of up to £50,000.
In fact, a survey by whistleblowing organisation Public Concern at
Work earlier this year revealed that, as a result of the
legislation, UK employers pay out £10 million a year to persons
fired after reporting illegal or unethical practices.
FAST hopes that by raising awareness of the laws protecting
employees the numbers willing to blow the whistle will increase. At
present, while 35% of persons surveyed regarded whistleblowers as
heroes, nearly 46% specifically said that they would not take
action to report their boss for using pirated software.
The research by YouGov on behalf of FAST.
