Protected disclosure

What it is

A protected disclosure is a report of wrongdoing made in the way the Protection of the Whistleblower Act (Cap. 527) provides, through internal, external or, in some cases, public channels. Making one in that way gives the person legal protection against detrimental action. Whether a particular report qualifies depends on the Act’s conditions, so take advice before making one.

Exit agreements cannot take the protection away

Article 21 of the Act makes any provision in a contract of service, or in another agreement between employer and employee, void in so far as it:

• purports to exclude any provision of the Act, including an agreement not to start or continue proceedings under it; or
• purports to stop the employee, or has the effect of discouraging them, from making a protected disclosure.

A confidentiality or non-disparagement clause in an exit agreement should therefore say expressly that nothing in it prevents disclosures that the law protects or requires.

Not a ground for dismissal

Separately, the Employment and Industrial Relations Act provides that disclosing information to a designated public regulating body about alleged illegal or corrupt activities by the employer can never be set up as a good and sufficient cause for dismissal (Cap. 452, article 36(14)).

Note

This website’s enquiry form is not a whistleblowing channel. Do not use it to report wrongdoing.