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Speaking up about wrongdoing at work takes courage. Whether you’ve reported fraud, a health and safety risk, environmental damage, or any other serious concern, the law is on your side. But retaliation still happens. And when it does, you need specialist whistleblowing solicitors who understand the law, believe in what you did, and will fight for the protection you deserve.
We’re Darwin Gray, specialist employment law solicitors and experienced whistleblowing solicitors uk workers and employees trust. We advise individuals who have made protected disclosures and are facing dismissal, demotion, harassment, or any other detriment as a result. We’ll assess your claim honestly, advise on your options, and represent you at employment tribunal if it comes to that.
Welsh language whistleblowing advice available. Call us today.
To speak to an employment law consultant today, call us on 02920 829 100 or use our Contact us form.
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Whistleblowing is when a worker reports wrongdoing they’ve discovered in the course of their work. In legal terms, it’s making a “protected disclosure.” The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA) protects workers who make these disclosures from being dismissed or subjected to any detriment by their employer.
To qualify as a protected disclosure, the disclosure must:
Qualifying disclosures cover information that a worker reasonably believes shows:
You don’t have to be proved right. You just need to have a reasonable belief that the information suggests wrongdoing, and that disclosure is in the public interest.
Who’s protected? Not just employees. Whistleblowing protection covers employees, workers, agency workers, contractors, trainees, and in some cases job applicants. There’s no minimum length of service required. You’re protected from the first day.
If you’ve made a protected disclosure and your employer has treated you worse as a result, that’s called a “detriment.” It can take many forms. Contact us if any of the following have happened after you raised a concern:
Employers aren’t always obvious about retaliation. Often it’s subtle: the shift in how you’re treated, the sudden performance concerns that were never raised before, the restructure that just happens to eliminate your role. We understand how retaliation works in practice and know how to build a case.
The 3-month time limit is critical. Claims for whistleblowing detriment must be brought within 3 months minus one day of the act complained of. ACAS early conciliation pauses the clock. Don’t delay getting advice.
Contact us and we’ll have a free initial conversation to understand what happened, assess whether your disclosure is likely to qualify as a protected disclosure, and advise on whether you have viable claims. Honest assessment from the start: we’ll tell you if your case is strong or weak.
If you’ve suffered any detriment following a protected disclosure (demotion, reduced responsibilities, exclusion, harassment, loss of pay), we’ll advise on and pursue whistleblowing detriment claims at employment tribunal. There’s no cap on compensation for whistleblowing detriment claims.
Dismissal for whistleblowing is automatically unfair, regardless of your length of service. You don’t need two years to claim. We assess whether your dismissal was connected to your protected disclosure and bring automatically unfair dismissal claims where the evidence supports it.
Many whistleblowers are forced out rather than formally dismissed. Systematic bullying, being sidelined, unmanageable working conditions, breaches of trust. If your employer made your position untenable and you resigned as a result, you may have a constructive dismissal claim on top of whistleblowing detriment. We assess both.
In dismissal cases, we can apply for interim relief at tribunal. This is a fast-track process that can keep you in employment (or maintain your pay) while your case is resolved. Applications must be made within 7 days of dismissal. If you’ve just been dismissed for whistleblowing, call us immediately.
Whistleblowing compensation solicitors focus on maximising what you recover. Unlike unfair dismissal (which has a compensatory cap), whistleblowing compensation has no upper limit. We assess all heads of loss: loss of earnings, future loss, injury to feelings, personal injury where applicable. We fight for full compensation.
Many whistleblowing cases settle before tribunal. We negotiate settlement agreements on your behalf, ensuring you receive fair compensation, an agreed reference, confidentiality on appropriate terms, and any other protections you need. We don’t accept the first offer if there’s room to do better.
Already aware of wrongdoing but haven’t yet raised the concern? We advise on how to make a disclosure that’s most likely to attract legal protection, who to report to, whether to use internal or external routes, and how to document everything. Getting it right from the start matters.
Whistleblowing law is complex. The line between a protected disclosure and an ordinary grievance isn’t always obvious. The “public interest” test catches people out. Employer retaliation is often subtle. We’re specialist employment law solicitors who handle whistleblowing claims regularly. We know what qualifies, what doesn’t, and how to build the strongest possible case.
When you’ve blown the whistle, you need solicitors who believe in what you did. We advise employees and individuals, not employers on the other side of whistleblowing claims. You’ll get legal representation that’s unequivocally on your side.
Time limits in whistleblowing cases are strict. Three months minus one day from the detriment complained of. Seven days from dismissal if you want to apply for interim relief. We move fast when we need to. Call us now if you’re close to a deadline.
We’re Wales’ leading commercial law firm offering a Welsh language employment law services at every level. Welsh-speaking workers who’ve blown the whistle can receive all advice, communications, and tribunal representation in Welsh. If Welsh is your first language, you shouldn’t have to navigate the most stressful situation of your working life in English.
You speak directly to the specialist employment law solicitor handling your case. Not a call handler, not a paralegal, not someone who hasn’t read your file. The person you brief at the start is the person who knows your case inside out from day one.
Not every disclosure qualifies as protected. Not every detriment claim succeeds. We’ll tell you honestly whether we think you have a strong case, what compensation might realistically look like, and what the risks are. We’d rather give you an honest picture than take your case and disappoint you later.
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Call us or complete our online form. We listen carefully to what happened: what you disclosed, to whom, when, and how your employer responded. We ask questions to understand the full picture and give you an honest initial view on whether your disclosure is likely to be protected and whether you have potential claims.
If we think you have a viable claim, we go deeper. We review your documents (written disclosure, correspondence, disciplinary letters, dismissal notice, employment contract, any evidence of retaliation) and give you detailed advice. We explain the strength of your claim, realistic compensation range, likely timeline, and funding options.
Before issuing a tribunal claim, you must contact ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) for early conciliation. We handle this on your behalf. The conciliation period pauses your time limit and gives the employer a chance to settle. Many cases resolve here without needing a tribunal hearing.
If ACAS conciliation doesn’t resolve matters, we issue a tribunal claim. We draft your ET1 claim form, serve witness statements, prepare bundles, and represent you at the full tribunal hearing. At every stage, we assess whether settlement is possible on terms you can accept. If a fair settlement is offered, we negotiate hard to maximise it.
Win at tribunal or settle successfully, we help you recover compensation covering: loss of earnings (past and future), injury to feelings, personal injury where applicable, aggravated damages in serious cases. We work to maximise your recovery, not just reach the finish line.
Timeline: Initial assessment (same week) | ACAS conciliation (up to 6 weeks) | Tribunal claim (6-18 months to hearing typically) | Settlement (can happen at any stage)
The team combines expertise, integrity, and dedication to their clients. They offered us innovative solutions and a personalised attention.
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Darwin Gray are a very resourceful and ambitious practice. They have a wide breath of areas in which they advise and recruit extremely well, with a number of very talented junior lawyers. They are approachable and responsive.
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A protected disclosure must: be a “qualifying disclosure” (showing criminal offence, legal breach, miscarriage of justice, health and safety danger, environmental damage, or cover-up of any of these), be made in the public interest, and be made to an appropriate person or body. Your reasonable belief in the wrongdoing is enough, you don’t have to be proved right.
Personal grievances (a complaint about your own treatment, pay dispute, or interpersonal conflict) generally don’t qualify unless they also disclose wrongdoing in the public interest. This is an important distinction. We’ll advise you clearly on whether your disclosure qualifies.
No. Whistleblowing protection under PIDA covers employees, workers, agency workers, contractors providing personal service, trainees, and in some cases former employees and job applicants. There’s also no minimum length of service requirement for whistleblowing protection. Even if you were dismissed on your first day after raising a concern, you have full protection.
This is very common. Employers rarely admit whistleblowing is the real reason. They find or manufacture an alternative reason. Tribunals look at the real reason for dismissal. We gather evidence showing: the timing of the performance concerns relative to your disclosure, whether those concerns existed before your disclosure, any internal documents revealing the employer’s true motivations, and witness evidence from colleagues. Suspicious timing and manufactured issues are often enough to raise the inference of whistleblowing connection.
Three months minus one day from the act of detriment complained of, or from dismissal. You must also complete ACAS early conciliation before issuing a claim, which pauses the time limit. For interim relief applications (in dismissal cases), the limit is even shorter: 7 days from dismissal. Don’t delay. If you’re approaching the deadline, call us today.
Yes. If you’ve been dismissed and believe the dismissal was connected to a protected disclosure, you can apply for interim relief within 7 days. A tribunal can order that you be reinstated or re-engaged, or that your employer continues to pay you while the full claim is resolved. The bar for interim relief is that the claim is likely to succeed. We assess quickly whether your case qualifies and move immediately if it does.
No. Unlike most unfair dismissal claims (capped at a statutory cap), whistleblowing compensation has no statutory cap. You may be able to recover full past and future financial loss, injury to feelings, personal injury compensation, and in serious cases aggravated damages. This is one reason why strong whistleblowing claims can have significant value.
You can attempt to, but anonymity is hard to maintain in practice and can affect the protection available to you. PIDA doesn’t require disclosure to be named. However, anonymous reports may be harder to investigate, and if the employer later identifies you, the protection still applies if you meet the other criteria. We advise on how to maximise protection if anonymity is a concern.
In most cases, internal disclosure first is advisable. This is often enough to qualify for protection and maintains the employment relationship while you see if the issue is dealt with properly. However, if you reasonably believe internal disclosure would lead to evidence being destroyed, if the employer is party to the wrongdoing, or if the matter is exceptionally serious, direct external disclosure to a prescribed body (FCA, CQC, HSE, HMRC, etc.) or even to the police may be appropriate. We advise on which route best protects you.
Yes. If you’ve suffered emotional distress, anxiety, depression, or other psychological harm as a result of the treatment you received following a protected disclosure, you can claim injury to feelings. Awards are made using the Vento guidelines: lower band (currently £1,200-£12,100), middle band (currently £12,100-£36,400), upper band (currently £36,400-£60,700) for the most serious cases. Where psychiatric injury is established by medical evidence, you can also claim personal injury compensation on top.
Yes. Whistleblowing protection applies regardless of the employer’s size. There’s no minimum employee headcount. Small employers must comply with PIDA just as large organisations do. However, settlements and awards may reflect the employer’s ability to pay in extreme cases. We advise on this realistically.
Contractors who provide services personally (not through a company that genuinely employs others to do the work) are protected under PIDA. If your contract ends or is not renewed following a protected disclosure, that can constitute a detriment or dismissal equivalent. The key question is whether you’re genuinely self-employed or a “worker” in legal terms. We assess your status as part of the initial advice.
We’re based in Cardiff and Bangor, advising whistleblowers throughout Wales and across the UK. Whistleblowing cases are handled remotely as well as face to face, so wherever you are, we can help quickly.
Cardiff: South Wales including Swansea, Newport, Bridgend, and the Valleys.
Bangor: North Wales including Wrexham, Anglesey, and Gwynedd.
As Wales’ leading Welsh language commercial law firm, we’re the natural choice for Welsh-speaking workers who’ve blown the whistle. We’re the only commercial law firm in Wales offering full Welsh language employment law services at every level, from trainees right through to partners. Whistleblowing protection solicitors who can work entirely in Welsh when you need it.
If you’ve raised a concern and your employer is making your life difficult as a result, don’t wait. Time limits are strict, evidence can disappear, and retaliation often escalates. Speaking to specialist whistleblowing solicitors early puts you in a much stronger position.
We offer free initial consultations. We’ll tell you honestly whether you have a viable claim, what it’s worth, and how we can help.
Call [INSERT PHONE NUMBER], email [INSERT EMAIL], or complete our [INSERT CONTACT FORM LINK]. Free initial chat. Welsh language services available.
To speak to one of our experts today, please contact us on 02920 829 100 or by using our Contact Us form for a free initial chat to see how we can help.
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