ABSTRACT
The purpose of the U.K.'s Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 is "to protect individuals who make certain disclosures of information in the public interest." PIDA 1998 was the model for South Africa's Protected Disclosures Act 2000 and has been regarded as an exemplary piece of legislation in debates in other countries, for example, the Netherlands, New Zealand and some Australian states. This chapter outlines the UK statutory provisions and then considers recent research on how whistleblowing procedures operate in practice. Section 43C(l) ERA 1996 protects workers who make qualifying disclosures in good faith to their employer or to another person who is responsible for the matter disclosed. Section 47B(1) ERA 1996 gives workers the right not to be subjected to any detriment for making a protected disclosure and it is made clear that detriment covers both actions and a deliberate failure to act.
