Jersey whistleblowers should be protected - report

The Jersey Employment Forum has made 24 recommendations about legal protection for whistleblowers

Jersey should provide legal protection to whistleblowers as a "day one employment right", a report has said.

The Jersey Employment Forum published a series of recommendations for laws that would protect people who report wrongdoing in the workplace.

Among the recommendations, the forum said any legislation should include a public interest test requiring whistleblowers to show the disclosure was made in the "the reasonable belief that it was in the public interest".

Jersey currently has no specific legal protections for whistleblowers on the island, but the States Assembly agreed to a proposition in July 2023 to introduce new laws.

In May 2024, the social security minister asked the forum to look into various issues raised by the prospect of new whistleblowing laws.

The forum said it produced a short online survey and briefing note, which was circulated widely to individuals and professional organisations.

It added the Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service also sent out two flyers by email to more than 1,000 subscribers and links to the survey were sent to nearly 200 subscribers to the forum's database.

The report had 24 recommendations for consideration for any whistleblowing laws that are introduced.

These include protection being brought in to all sectors at the same time and the process for making a protected disclosure should be easy to understand.

It added unfair dismissal or detriment claims as a result of whistleblowing should be made within eight weeks, but there should be "no bar on the length of time that has elapsed since the wrongdoing complained of".

The forum said: "Protection from unfair dismissal or detriment for an act of whistleblowing should be a day one employment right."

The forum said it acknowledged the consideration and drafting of the legislation would be a "complex exercise", but it was an area many people felt needed to be addressed.

"Respondents overwhelmingly considered that legislation should be brought forward to protect those who make a disclosure in the public interest," it said.

"That protection should apply to those in both the public and private sectors."