GC whistleblowing

[Holeinamole]

NC for this. I work in a public sector organisation and I constantly come across documents (policies, equality impact assessments, training) that could be regarded as discriminating against those who acknowledge the reality of sex and the need for sex-based protections. I believe they damage my organisation’s reputation and working practices.

I feel I need to say something but I know that my line-managers are not sympathetic. What is the process for whistleblowing and what are the risks and benefits? Any advice gratefully appreciated.

https://www.gov.uk/whistleblowing/who-to-tell-what-to-expect
https://www.acas.org.uk/whistleblowing-at-work
https://www.gov.uk/whistleblowing

Also may be worth contacting Sex Matters for advice, and/or The Free Speech Union.

We saw what happened when senior consultants tried to report Lucy Letby. They were hauled over the coals and threatened with public humiliation.

A senior lecturer on my therapy degree course whistleblowed over negligence in an old people's home in the 1980s...he lost his job and future as a psychiatrist consultant.

Good luck to anyone in this country who is compelled to go public on scandals.

Can you day something anonymously?

Sorry- can you do something anonymously, like set up an email account to message

You can report direct to EHRC:

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/whistleblowing

I think they will take your name and email address - here is their Privacy Policy:

https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/contact-us/privacy-notice

Depending on degree of confidentiality, there are watermarks, changes in punctuation and phrasing that will identify the distribution chain for documents.

Whistleblowing in the UK can destroy your livelihood and that of your family.

Ah, you can report anonymously if you wish:

'Reporting anonymously or confidentiallyYou do not have to give us your name or contact details, but it is helpful if you do.
If you report concerns anonymously, it might make it harder for us to investigate your concern or to conduct any enquiries.
We cannot guarantee that your identity will remain protected. However, we will treat the information you provide as confidential and won’t disclose it without a valid reason as set out in law. You should be aware that even if you have contacted us anonymously, if we need to share information you could still be identified by the particular circumstances.
What we will do with your informationYour information helps us decide whether to look more closely at an organisation’s compliance with equality and human rights law.
We will make a record of your concern and decide whether to take any action on it, in line with our business plan and litigation and enforcement policy.
We are unlikely to get in touch with you again unless we need more information. If we do need more information and you have given us your contact details, we will get in touch using the details you have provided, unless you have indicated that you do not wish to be contacted.
Even if you don’t hear from us, or we don’t take immediate action, we will use the information you provided in our work. For example, to help us plan what we will do in the future. We take all concerns seriously and deal with them on a case-by-case basis.
You will not have a say in how we deal with your concern and we may not be able to give you much detail if we have to keep the confidence of other people. Section 6 of the Equality Act 2006 may also limit what we can share with you about any action we take.
If you make a ‘protected disclosure’ as a whistleblower then your information, and the information that you provide us with will be handled in accordance with our whistleblowing policy.'

Contacting/tip offs to the press may also be something worth considering.

Thank you for these replies, this is very helpful!

Is it still whistleblowing if you say something within the organisation, but to a person other than your line manager? And who should that person be? If it’s within the organisation, it would be fine to forward documents, no? I do not want to endanger my job. Going to the press seems too risky.

If the public sector organisation you work for is part of the civil service or it is an associated body you could join the Sex Equality and Equity Network (SEEN) who can raise these points for you.

I've raised points within my public sector body directly with HR and our EDI team. It is easier to point out when things are just clearly incorrect (e.g. sex replaced with gender in a list of protected characteristics or sex not included in an impact assessment).

Does your organisation have Freedom to Speak Up Guardians? nationalguardian.org.uk/

My main advice is, join the Free Speech Union

Whod a thunk it that feminists would be recommending anything Toby Young set up. Yet I know someone whom they are supporting on a case and apparently they’re fab.

This isn't whistle blowing. This is about good management.

As suggested up thread (assuming you can trust them) raise it with HR saying you are aware the organisation hasn't taken into account the Maya Forstater ruling (they might listen if they think there are legal implications) but do have concerns because you are aware it is a issue that makes many people defensive. And you want to keep your job because the organisation is one you believe in, blah, blah, so what should you do.

Does the organisation have a senior board / trustees? If so it might be possible (maybe anonymously) to bring this to the attention of whichever board member / trustee has responsibility for governance.

I am also suggesting this route, because some of the documents etc., could be confidential to the organisation, so you dont want to be in the position of then being accused of passing internal documents to outsiders.

Do you know if any other employees have similar concerns. Would be good if it wasn't just you raising this.

This isn't whistle blowing. This is about good management.

I don't disagree.

On a related note, however:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4877313-cover-up-culture-in-the-nhs-seemingly-everywhere

I have a friend doing the same in the private sector. Her first stop was to join The Free Speech Union, reach out to SexMatters ,Feminist Legal. Join
WRN.Theres a group on Twitter specifically for Civil servants.
Get your ducks in order, set up a twit acct. You WILL need visible support if it goes tits up. And thank you, if more people spoke up at the very beginning we wouldn't be wading through this fucking shit show.💐

Get yourself a VPN email address & a burner phone.
Remember NEVER say/write anything you wouldn't be happy to hear in open tribunal/court.

Fucking hell, the Cartels don't go to these lengths!

@Holeinamole do not go to the press, the Whistleblowing policy was put in place to stop employees going to the press. It means you can’t claim public interest if they fire you.

You must follow the whistleblowing policy in your organisation.

One way to do it is to follow the policy and write to the person/people responsible for the policy area e.g. HR Director. Make sure you head it Protected Disclosure under PIDA. As you suggest, approach it from a repetitional point of view I.e. not accurately reflecting the law and site cases like Allison Bailey and Maya Forstater. If you can illustrate how it could easily be changed.

It is much easier to do it if you don’t work in the area, e.g. if you are Ops and it’s an HR policy.

Do not expect them to do anything, just leave it at one referral.

First and most important thing…

Make sure you read your own organisation’s policies and make sure you comply with those policies.

If you breach an internal policy, they could put you through your organisation’s disciplinary procedures. So you need to make sure you don’t breach your employer’s policies and procedures.

If you are not a member of a trade union, get in touch with the different trade unions’ reps in your organisation to say you’d like to have a chat about the benefits of membership of their particular union, to see if you can get a feel for whether they would have your back in the event of any difficulties. Any trade union rep actually doing their job properly would support their members who are in difficulty with their employer, regardless of whether they personally share that member’s views. However we’ve seen (eg Sussex UCU) that there are some unions with branch committees/ individuals on that committee who get involved in unions to pursue their own political agenda rather to support their subscription-paying members. But some reps/ branches / unions being like that doesn’t mean that every rep / branch / union is like that. You need to already be a union member before you run into trouble with your employer, for them to be able to support you.

If and when you do start writing to your employer’s HR Dept or EDI team about their policy documents, your safest approach is to focus on points of accuracy. eg If the documents misquote the Equality Act 2010 protected characteristics, focus on that.

Keep your communications short, simple, neutral in tone, and focused on the facts.

Pick your battles carefully and test the water - start with the least controversial changes and those policies which will be the easiest / least work for your corporate colleagues to make amendments to.

@WhineyVaginey Do you know what Twitter group that is? I'm in WRN but didn't realise there was a GC CS group

Th GC CS network - SEEN - is open to employees of ALBs as well as the main CS.