What is whistleblowing of greater public interest? 

In the EU Directive on the protection of whistleblowers, as well as in national whistleblower laws, there is a central concept: Whistleblowing is about violations of (union) laws or misconduct of greater public interest. What this actually means is not specified in any legislation and can therefore be subject to interpretation. It is particularly difficult to assess the public interest in a whistleblower case if the whistleblower himself appears in the report. 

Whistleblowing of public interest can also include wrongdoing that affected the whistleblower  

Generally, personal complaints do not meet the requirements of whistleblowing in public interest, although there are exceptions. There is a greater chance of public interest if the whistleblower is a witness to the incident, and not directly affected by it. The public interest can be affected by, among other things: 

• How many people are affected? 
  
• Is the misconduct intentional? 
  
• Is it one time incident or a repeated violation of restrictions? 
  
• How big is the impact on, for example, the victims, or the environment? 
  
• Who bears the responsibility and what type of organisation is involved in the wrongdoings? 

E.g., issues related to work, salary and employment are usually considered to be of a personal nature, but these can also be of greater public interest. Then, it should be about misconduct that is intentional, systematic and affects many individuals. 

If the whistleblower himself has a vested interest in the matter, it may be more difficult to determine whether it is whistleblowing in the public interest. As we have already noted, personal grievances or perceived wrongdoing are not necessarily in the public interest. For more info on misconduct in the workplace, please read this article. A whistleblower report might still be motivated, especially if the problem is extensive and has systematically affected other people, perhaps over a longer period of time. 

Whistleblowing in the greater public interest is more widespread in certain industries 

Naturally, some industries receive more whistleblowing reports of public interest than other industries. Misconduct in these industries can negatively impact more individuals. This is true for industries such as healthcare, food safety, environmental crimes, transport and logistics, radiation safety, and more. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has put an increased focus on whistleblowing in healthcare. Incidents previously perceived as more internal affairs have now attracted greater public interest. Some whistleblower reports about violations of COVID restrictions, or health and safety routines, have reflected employees‘ own concerns about being exposed to the virus themselves. At the same time, these reports have shown Covid-related misconduct that could potentially have a major negative impact on the public. This includes, among other things, misconduct where: 

• A greater number of people have been exposed to the risk of contracting Covid-19 
  
• Extra vulnerable persons have been exposed to the virus 
  
• The employer has failed to take sufficient safety measures 
  
• The employer’s nature of business is a vital service to society 

It is important that the public has confidence in the healthcare system, even if the misconduct did not affect us personally. We need to be able to trust that problems are detected and rectified. Therefore, it is correct to assume that whistleblowing regarding shortcomings in patient care should be seen as whistleblowing of greater public interest. 

Whistleblowing laws will protect those who report misconduct and wrongdoings 

National Whistleblower Acts and the EU Whistleblower Directive have been created to protect individuals who choose to raise the alarm about misconduct that may have a negative impact on others. The protection applies both before, during and after the whistleblowing takes place.  

A whistleblower must have reason to believe that the information is true, relevant and of greater public interest. The whistleblower’s identity must be kept confidential. Employers may not attempt to prevent reporting and whistleblowers may not be subjected to any type of negative repercussions because of their whistleblower report. However, even a whistleblower does not have the right to breach professional secrecy or disclose documents with classified information. 

Would you like to learn more about a whistleblowing service and safe internal reporting channels? Please contact us for a free demo of our whistleblowing solution!