Employment Rights Act 1996, Part IVA — Protected Disclosures (ss.43A–43L)

In brief

Part IVA of the Employment Rights Act 1996 establishes the categories of qualifying disclosure, the reasonable-belief and public-interest tests, the permitted routes of disclosure (to the employer, to a prescribed person, to third parties in defined circumstances, and to a legal adviser), and the scope of "worker" for whistleblowing purposes. Read with s.47B (right not to suffer detriment) and s.103A (automatically unfair dismissal) of the same Act, it supplies the statutory framework whistleblowing claims are pleaded under.

Key provisions

• s.43A — Definition of "protected disclosure": A protected disclosure is a qualifying disclosure (s.43B) made by a worker in accordance with one of the permitted routes (ss.43C–43H).
• s.43B(1) — Qualifying disclosure — six categories: A qualifying disclosure is any disclosure of information which, in the reasonable belief of the worker making it, is made in the public interest and tends to show one or more of: (a) a criminal offence; (b) a failure to comply with a legal obligation; (c) a miscarriage of justice; (d) endangerment of the health or safety of any individual; (e) damage to the environment; or (f) deliberate concealment of any of the above.
• ss.43C–43H — Permitted routes of disclosure: Disclosures to the employer (s.43C), to a legal adviser (s.43D), to a Minister (s.43E), to a prescribed person on the Secretary of State's list (s.43F), to a third party where various conditions are met (s.43G), and in the case of exceptionally serious failures (s.43H). Each route carries its own threshold.
• s.43K — Extended meaning of "worker" for PIDA purposes: PIDA extends the ordinary statutory meaning of "worker" to include agency workers, NHS practitioners, trainees, and others, so the protection reaches beyond employees in the strict sense.

When relevant

Every PIDA analysis. Cite alongside the relevant case-law authority interpreting the specific section engaged. Particularly relevant in stacked-claim trans-inclusion contexts where a worker's concern is framed as both an EqA grievance and a PIDA disclosure.