Please view this month’s video from Paul Griffin, Head of Employment in London, which provides an update on the law on whistleblowing in the UK.… Continue reading
The Affordable Care Act (ACA)—or “Obamacare”—has gotten plenty of attention due to technical glitches with the HealthCare.gov website, consumers’ difficulties obtaining (or keeping) insurance through the exchanges, and Health Secretary Sibelius’s recent resignation. But some notable provisions of the ACA have gone largely unremarked—particularly an amendment to Title 29 of the U.S. Code. Added by … Continue reading
This post was co-written by Lesley Harrold, Senior Knowledge Lawyer (Pensions), Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (London) Employment Status Since its introduction in 2000 the limited liability partnership (“LLP”) has become a popular corporate vehicle for professional services providers in the UK, especially legal and accountancy firms, many of which have converted from traditional partnerships to … Continue reading
Introduction The legislative proposal known as ‘House for Whistleblowers’ is pending in the Netherlands. The proposal introduces an independent and impartial governmental institution that investigates wrongdoing and assists employees in disclosure proceedings: the House for Whistleblowers. In addition, the proposal introduces several rules to protect whistleblowers. The situation under current Dutch law and under the … Continue reading
In the 1970s, a particular brand of cigarettes geared towards women used the tag line “you’ve have come a long way baby,” and today, the same could be said for the term “whistleblower.” In the early to mid-20th century, individuals who reported illegal activity were often referred to in pejorative terms such as “rats” and … Continue reading
Employees owe a duty of loyalty towards their employer. This well-known principle of labour and employment law is particularly set out in statutory law, namely in Section 2088 of the Civil Code of Québec which prohibits any act which may impair or infringe upon the legitimate interests of the employer. An exception to this principle exists … Continue reading
French employment law does not provide for a comprehensive and consistent set of rules for the purpose of protecting whistleblowers. Instead, French employment law tackles issues arising out of whistleblowing situations through a relatively meagre set of legislative provisions resulting principally from recent awareness on the subject. Specific regulations: limited protection Under currently applicable legislation … Continue reading
There is no legal protection for whistleblowers in Venezuela and it is not common in practice. However, many transnational and local companies in Venezuela have policies and code of conducts protecting those who step up and expose Corruption, fraud, mismanagement, breaches of legal obligations. Some of these companies have hot lines through which employees are … Continue reading
This article was written by Lara Kerbelker, an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa The Labour Court recently handed down judgment in a matter where a colonel in the SAPS was transferred to a functionally non-existent post after he exposed corruption in the unit. Colonel Roos was employed as an internal auditor in the … Continue reading
Although we saw a legislative initiative to introduce a whistleblowing act in 2011 and despite numerous revelations in the food sector and the NSA scandal in 2013, there is still no general law on the protection of whistleblowers in Germany. Few explicit statutory whistleblowing rights and duties Whistleblowing is lawful where statutory provisions give an … Continue reading
This post was co-written by Lindsey Hooper, Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (London) Due to recent scandals in the UK around insider dealing, interest rate fixing, blacklisting and cartels, the subject of “whistleblowing” has become a hot topic, with organisations becoming increasingly concerned about malpractice and the legal and reputational consequences of its discovery. Set … Continue reading
This post was contributed by Amanda Sanders The UK Government Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, announced in the press in March that gagging orders which prevent whistleblowers in the National Health Service (NHS) from raising concerns about patient safety are to be banned. Employees who leave their NHS posts will be given a new legal right … Continue reading