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Whistleblowing eLearning
Online whistleblowing training: what a protected disclosure actually is, the protection the law gives, and why most organisations would rather hear it internally first.
Who it is for
Who this whistleblowing course is for
Whistleblowing is narrower than people assume. Not every complaint is a protected disclosure, and understanding the difference protects both the person raising the concern and the organisation receiving it.
- All staff, as part of induction or refresher training
- Line managers who may receive a disclosure
- HR and compliance teams
- Directors and senior managers
- Regulated businesses with reporting obligations
- Anyone responsible for a speak-up policy
Course content
What the whistleblowing course covers
Five short lessons covering what qualifies, who is protected, raising a concern, receiving a disclosure, and a speak-up culture, then a 12-question assessment.
What whistleblowing is and what qualifies
Qualifying disclosures, the public interest test, and the categories, including sexual harassment from April 2026.
Who is protected
Workers, employees and agency workers, and protection from detriment and dismissal.
Raising a concern internally and externally
Internal routes, prescribed persons, and when wider external disclosure is protected.
Receiving a disclosure
Listening, recording, confidentiality and no retaliation.
A speak-up culture
Building a culture where people feel safe to speak up.
Outcomes
What you will be able to do afterwards
- Explain what whistleblowing is and what makes a disclosure qualify
- Identify who is protected and from what
- Raise a concern internally, or externally where appropriate
- Receive a disclosure well as a manager
- Contribute to a speak-up culture
Your legal duty
The law behind whistleblowing training
Whistleblowing protection in Great Britain comes from the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998, which inserted protections into the Employment Rights Act 1996. A qualifying disclosure must relate to specified categories of wrongdoing and, in the worker's reasonable belief, be made in the public interest.
Where a disclosure qualifies and is made in the right way, the worker is protected from detriment and from dismissal for having made it. The detail of who is covered and what counts as a protected disclosure is technical, so this course is awareness training rather than legal advice.
- Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998
- Employment Rights Act 1996 - where the protections sit
- Protection against detriment and dismissal for a protected disclosure
- The public interest test applies; not every complaint qualifies
Practicalities
How the course works
Would you rather have a tutor?
Personal complaints usually belong in the grievance process rather than the whistleblowing one.
For employers
Whistleblowing training for a team
Speak-up cultures depend on managers reacting well the first time. Training the people most likely to receive a disclosure matters as much as training everyone else.
- One invoice instead of a card payment per person
- Licences allocated as people join, so induction is covered
- Completion and expiry reporting for your records
- Renewal reminders before certificates lapse
- Bespoke versions built around your own procedures
Whistleblowing eLearning: common questions
No. A protected disclosure has to relate to specified categories of wrongdoing and be made in the worker's reasonable belief that it is in the public interest. Personal grievances usually go through the grievance process instead.
Where the disclosure qualifies and is made appropriately, the law protects workers from detriment and dismissal for having made it. Whether a particular disclosure qualifies is a legal question.
Usually not. Internal routes are normally the right first step. The course explains when external disclosure to a prescribed person is appropriate.
Take it seriously, keep it confidential, do not investigate the discloser, and follow the policy. Reacting badly to a disclosure is how organisations turn a problem into a claim.
Many organisations allow it, though anonymity limits what can be investigated and what protection can attach. The course covers the trade-offs.
About 30 to 45 minutes, with no time limit. Start it, pause it, and come back whenever suits. The certificate is issued as soon as you pass the end assessment.
Yes. It runs in a browser on any modern phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to install.
Yes. Open a business account and we invoice you for the licences, which you allocate as people need them. Completion reporting is included.
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