By law, there are several issues you can whistleblow about. These are called 'qualifying disclosures'.
Qualifying disclosures
These include:
- a criminal offence – for example, an employer has been trying to bribe people
- the breach of a legal obligation by an organisation – for example, an employer has neglected their duty of care towards children in a care home
- a miscarriage of justice – for example, a member of staff has been dismissed for something that turned out to be a computer error
- someone's health and safety being in danger – for example, an employer has forced staff to serve contaminated food
- sexual harassment – for example, someone is sexually harassed by their manager (from 6 April 2026)
- damage to the environment – for example, an employer has been regularly polluting local rivers
You can also whistleblow about someone trying to cover up information about any of these issues.
You can make a qualifying disclosure about an issue that's happened at any time. This includes if it's likely to happen in the future. It can also be about something that takes place overseas.
You can report one or more qualifying disclosures.
Making a disclosure about sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature.
From 6 April 2026 sexual harassment is a 'qualifying disclosure' under whistleblowing law.
This means that by law, whistleblowers who make a disclosure about sexual harassment are protected from:
- unfair dismissal – if someone with the legal status of employee is dismissed for whistleblowing, it will be treated as an automatic unfair dismissal
- detriment
Detriment means someone experiences one or both of the following:
- being treated worse than before
- having their situation made worse
Examples of detriment could be:
- they experience bullying
- they experience harassment
- their employer turns down their training requests without good reason
- they are overlooked for promotions or development opportunities
- their employer reduces their hours without good reason
If someone has the legal status of worker, they cannot claim unfair dismissal. But they might be able to claim that being dismissed was a detriment. This is a complicated area of employment law. If you want to take further action you should get legal advice.
Whistleblowers are protected if they suffer a detriment or dismissal from 6 April 2026. This applies even if the sexual harassment or disclosure happened before 6 April 2026.
Find out more about what sexual harassment is
When a qualifying disclosure is protected
By law, you'll be protected as a whistleblower if you can show it's reasonable for you to believe that what you disclose:
- fits into one of the categories of a qualifying disclosure
- is in the public interest
In the public interest means it has to also affect others. For example, other workers, customers or the general public. If your concern is personal only to you, it's unlikely to count as being in the public interest.
Something is more likely to be in the public interest:
- the more serious the issue is
- if you're reporting something that was done deliberately
- if the issue involves a large, influential or well-known employer
- if there is a large number of people affected by the concerns
When you will not be protected
You will not be protected when making a qualifying disclosure if you:
- commit a criminal offence by disclosing the information – for example, hacking into computer files
- breach legal professional privilege – for example, if you're a legal adviser and share something you learnt when giving legal advice
In Scotland, legal professional privilege is sometimes called 'confidentiality as between client and professional legal adviser'.
Resolving a personal problem at work
If your concern is a personal problem only, it will not be covered by whistleblowing law. This is because it would not count as being in the public interest. In these cases you might be able to resolve the problem another way.
Find out more about how to raise a problem at work
Whistleblowing about health and safety breaches
By law (Employment Rights Act 1996), workers are protected if they whistleblow about health and safety.
Find out more about reporting an issue about health and safety from the Health and Safety Executive