An events coordinator discovers that the maximum capacity for a venue is regularly being exceeded at popular events.
She raises it with her manager after one particularly busy evening, explaining that she is concerned about what would happen if the venue had to be evacuated. Her manager tells her not to worry – they have run plenty of events at similar numbers without a problem.
At the next sold-out event, she sees the same thing happening. When she raises it again, she is told that reducing numbers would mean cancelling paying guests and damaging an important client relationship.
She decides to raise the issue with one of the directors instead.
Would everyone involved recognise that this could be a whistleblowing concern?
Whistleblowing doesn’t always look like whistleblowing
When we hear the word ‘whistleblower’, it can conjure up images of serious corporate wrongdoing, investigations and regulators.
In reality, a whistleblowing concern may begin with something much less dramatic: an employee telling their manager that they believe something happening at work is unsafe, unlawful or seriously wrong.
They do not need to use the word ‘whistleblowing’, and a disclosure does not have to be made formally or in writing. Managers therefore need to recognise when an apparently ordinary workplace conversation could be something more significant.
In our events example, the employee is not simply unhappy with a management decision. She is raising information about something she reasonably believes could put people’s health and safety at risk.
What actually counts as whistleblowing?
Not every concern raised by an employee is whistleblowing.
Broadly, whistleblowing involves a worker disclosing information that they reasonably believe is in the public interest and shows certain types of wrongdoing. These include criminal offences, breaches of legal obligations, miscarriages of justice, dangers to health and safety, environmental damage and attempts to conceal wrongdoing. Sexual harassment was also added as a qualifying category from April 2026.
A concern that is purely personal to an individual – for example, a disagreement about their own working arrangements or treatment at work – is more likely to be dealt with through another process, such as a grievance.
However, the distinction is not always clear-cut. A grievance can also contain a whistleblowing disclosure, so managers should avoid making assumptions before understanding what the employee is actually telling them.
The first response matters
Imagine the events coordinator’s manager had responded differently:
Thank you for raising this. Let me look into the capacity limits and what has been happening at recent events, and I’ll come back to you.
The concern has been acknowledged, the employee knows it is being taken seriously, and the business has an opportunity to establish whether there is a problem and address it.
By contrast, dismissing a concern because “we’ve always done it this way”, becoming defensive or treating the employee as difficult can create a much bigger problem.
Workers who make protected whistleblowing disclosures have legal protection against suffering detriment as a result. For an employee, dismissal because they have made a protected disclosure can amount to automatic unfair dismissal.
Managers therefore play an important role in that first response – even if someone else will ultimately be responsible for investigating the concern.
Is your whistleblowing policy actually working?
Having a whistleblowing policy is an important starting point, but a policy tucked away in an employee handbook is not enough to create a workplace where people feel comfortable speaking up.
Employees should know what types of concerns to raise, how and where to raise them, and who they can approach if the concern involves their own manager.
Managers also need to know what to do when a concern lands with them. They don’t need to be experts in whistleblowing law, but they should know how to listen, avoid dismissing or prejudging the concern, maintain appropriate confidentiality and escalate it through the correct process.
Organisations should regularly review and communicate their whistleblowing arrangements and ensure managers understand their responsibilities.
What happens after someone speaks up?
Once a potential whistleblowing concern has been raised, employers need to take it seriously, follow the appropriate procedure and maintain confidentiality as far as possible. Where an investigation is required, it should be handled appropriately and the individual kept informed where possible.
Employers also need to consider what happens afterwards.
A manager may feel frustrated that an employee went above them. Colleagues may begin treating the individual differently. Someone who spoke up may suddenly find themselves excluded from opportunities or regarded as a troublemaker.
Employers need to be alert to this. Treating someone unfavourably because they made a protected disclosure can create a further problem for the organisation.
Creating a workplace where people can speak up
Whistleblowing should not simply be viewed as a legal risk to manage.
Employees are often well placed to spot problems before senior leaders know they exist. Creating a workplace where people feel able to raise genuine concerns gives the business an opportunity to identify risks and put things right before they become more serious.
So it is worth asking:
If somebody in your organisation raised a serious concern tomorrow, would they know who to tell – and would the manager receiving it know what to do?
If the answer is not an immediate yes, it may be time to review your whistleblowing arrangements.
HR Surgery can support businesses with reviewing whistleblowing policies and procedures and helping managers understand how to respond appropriately when concerns are raised. Please get in touch if you would like support.
