Whistleblowing Policy

SCOPE 

This policy has been written to take account of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, which protects workers making disclosures about certain matters of concern, where those disclosures are made in accordance with the Act’s provisions. The Act is incorporated into the Employment Rights Act 1996, which already protects employees who act, or raise concerns about, health and safety at work. 

INTRODUCTION

Employees are quite often the first to realise that there may be something seriously wrong within any organisation. Often however, they may not express their concerns because they feel that speaking up would construe disloyalty to either their colleagues or organisation and may also have fears that by “blowing the whistle” either they or a colleague may be the victim of some sort of harassment or victimisation. Live 2 Help Recruitment are keen to ensure that in these circumstances you do not simply ignore the issue and as our organisation is committed to the highest possible standards of openness, probity, and accountability we encourage employees with serious concerns about any aspect of the organisation's work to come forward and voice those concerns without fear of reprisal. 

This Policy applies to both internal and external workers of Live 2 Help Recruitment, and its purpose is to encourage and enable staff to raise serious concerns within the organisation rather than overlooking a problem or “blowing the whistle outside the organisation”. 

This Whistleblowing Policy is intended to cover concerns that fall outside the scope of other procedures. The concern may be about something that is either unlawful, falls below the standards expected of employees of Live 2 Help Recruitment or simply amounts to improper conduct. At Live 2 Help Recruitment we are always committed to best practice and to attaining the highest standards and we recognise that the decision to report a concern can be difficult, not least because of the fear of reprisal from those responsible for the malpractice. 

Wherever possible, staff concerns should be resolved locally i.e., between the member of staff and their Office Manager. The Office Manager will be required to investigate the allegations thoroughly and sympathetically. The member of staff will receive an acknowledgement noting their concerns within five working days and a subsequent written response at the conclusion of the investigation. Concerns should be raised in writing and should include a short detail of the background and history of the concern, giving names, dates, and places where possible, and the reasons why you are particularly concerned about the situation.

If the outcome is not satisfactory, or the alleged activity relates to the Office Manager then staff have the right to raise the issue directly with the HR Department. At all times a fellow employee can accompany the individual concerned during the discussions on the issues that they have raised. Whilst pursuing the aim of openness, it is imperative that confidentiality is maintained, and that Live 2 Help Recruitment is not unreasonably undermined. 

Dependent on the nature of the concern Live 2 Help Recruitment will endeavour to resolve the matter as quickly as possible but in certain circumstances the matter may need to be referred to a higher authority and in these cases the matter will clearly take longer to resolve. As soon as the matter has been reported you will be notified how the organisation proposes to deal with the matter, if possible, giving an estimate of how long it will take to provide a final response. If after you have reported and had feedback on the offence you are still not satisfied, you are entitled to report it to bodies external to Live 2 Help Recruitment and advice on how to do so can be sought from the Human Resources Department. 

The terms of this policy do not affect your statutory rights under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998