Guidance on whistleblowing
Published 16 July 2021
© Crown copyright 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/whistleblowers-at-the-cma/guidance-on-whistleblowing
If you are an employee or ex-employee and wish to provide the CMA with information and/or raise a concern about your employer’s possible involvement in anti-competitive or unfair trading practices, please contact us here:
- call: 020 3738 6556
- email: [email protected]
- online: Make a whistleblower report
If you are unsure whether the practices you are concerned about amount to anti-competitive or unfair trading practices, we still want to hear from you if you suspect a business is behaving unfairly.
Contact: [email protected].
What will happen if I make a report?
We understand that it may be a significant decision to come forward and report potential wrongdoing or malpractice by your employer. If you contact us, we handle your details and the information you provide sensitively and in confidence. In particular, we would seek to protect your identity from the organisation you are reporting against. If you prefer, you can provide information anonymously. This would mean that we are unable to discuss your complaint with you. It may also make it more difficult for us to take action in respect of your concerns, but we will still do our best to investigate if as a result of the information you have reported to us we think there has been an infringement of competition or consumer law.
If you wish to provide your information anonymously you can use the following methods:
- phone – set your mobile phone to withhold your number
- email – set up a new account ensuring the address does not contain your name or other identifying information
- online – the CMA online form gives you the option not to provide your name
If you have provided us with contact details, a member of the CMA will contact you in confidence to discuss the information that you have provided and the next steps.
All information provided by you will be stored securely, assessed by a member of our intelligence team and, where appropriate, research conducted into the businesses and sector of the economy involved. We are not required to investigate every disclosure received. Nor are we required to assess and conclude whether a disclosure made by you qualifies for protection under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.
Once we have assessed your information, a decision will be made on the appropriate action that we should take.
As a result of your information we may:
- contact businesses to remind them about the importance of complying with competition and consumer protection law
- investigate and take enforcement action against businesses we suspect are breaking competition or consumer protection law
- conduct studies or investigations into markets where there may be competition and consumer problems
- prosecute people involved if we think a criminal offence has been committed
- decide not to take any further action
- suggest that you contact other enforcement agencies directly or share intelligence with other enforcement agencies
Things you need to know
The CMA has a prescribed role under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (which amends the Employment Rights Act 1996) for matters relating to the sale of goods or the supply of services, which adversely affect the interests of consumers; or about competition affecting markets in the UK. This means that you can report malpractice directly to the CMA as a ‘Prescribed Person’.
This is known as making a protected disclosure.
You are a whistleblower if you want to disclose information and/or raise a concern about the activities of businesses or individuals, which you are aware of through work, about possible wrongdoing relating to the matters that fall within the CMA’s remit.
Under the Act, you can make a disclosure to the CMA which, in your reasonable belief, is in the public interest and substantially true tending to show one or more of six matters listed in the Act has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur, including:
- a criminal offence
- a breach of any legal obligation
- the covering up of any wrongdoing relating to the above
Under the Act, whistleblowers who make a report to the CMA as a ‘Prescribed Person’ will potentially qualify for the same employment rights as if they had made a report direct to their employer. Whistleblowers are protected by the Act and employees should not be treated unfairly by their employer or lose their job because they have spoken out.
You may have questions about the legal protection available to you and how the law applies. We are unable to advise you on your personal situation but there are organisations that may be able to help including:
The type and level of advice offered by these organisations may vary and some of these organisations may charge a fee for their advice.
This list is not exhaustive, you may be able to search for and find other organisations to assist you.
We always recommend that you seek independent advice.
We cannot deal with personal employment/workplace issues such as raising a grievance about a personal employment situation (for example, bullying). You will need to use your employer’s internal ‘speak out’ or complaints process or seek independent legal advice.