Article Used: When is Whistleblowing in the Public Interest? Chesterton Global Ltd. & Another v Nurmohamed leaves this Question Open

• Should employees have freedom of conscience? Why or Why Not?
• Considering the long-term effects on employees on employees of blowing the whistle, when should they engage in whistleblowing tactics?
• Identify some reasons why external whistleblowing occurs in any given situation.

When it comes to employees and having the freedom of conscience, it should be allowed especially when the employee has a reasonable belief for reporting what they have found as a matter of public interest. Following the introduction of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill the introduction of public interest tests arguably reasserted the original aims of the legislation and the Chesterton V Nurmohamed decision examined at this point. (Ashton, 2015) If something is going to hurt the interest of the public employees should be able to feel free to have a conscience and speak up against something that may not be okay.

Considering the long-term effects on employees on employees of blowing the whistle, whistleblowing tactics should be engaged when the impact of what may occur could affect that which will affect the public. Let’s take for example a restaurant employee who doesn’t properly wash their hands and then say make a sandwich for a customer handling ready to eat food products as part of their daily routine. This is something that an employee should really take to a manager since it is something that will affect the public, however, there is a high risk at the same time of the employee which is “blowing the whistle” against the other employee to have a rough time working with the employee due to hard feelings from being “ratted out” for not properly following food safety regulations.

External whistleblowing might occur when an employee feels that something is in the public’s interest and can’t get the upper management to listen to what is being said about whatever the specific complaint or need to blow the whistle is. Whistleblowing to an external source, could make for a more severe retaliation against the employee who takes the time to Blow the Whistle when management won’t listen to this employee about whatever they may have uncovered that is a matter of public interest. This is where the employee has a freedom of conscience and the employee should be protected.

Resources:

Ashton, Jeanette. 2015. When Is Whistleblowing in the Public Interest? Chesterton Global Ltd. & Another v Nurmohamed Leaves this Question Open Industrial Law Journal, 44(3), 450-459 doi:10.1093/indlaw/dwv023