29.04.2026

Whistleblowing and harassment guidance surges amid shift in workplace liability

New data suggests employers are increasingly turning to whistleblowing and workplace harassment guidance as legal protections strengthen and internal reporting risks intensify under upcoming employment law changes.

With the Employment Rights Act 2025 significantly expanding employee protections, new data from compliance training provider Skillcast shows a sharp and sustained rise in employer engagement with workplace risk and reporting guidance.

Views of employment rights content have increased by approximately 50 per cent in the past month, indicating a marked acceleration in employer concern around how workplace issues are identified, escalated and managed.

Concentrated around high-risk areas of employment law, interest in guidance on whistleblowing increased by 31 per cent month-on-month, while engagement with content related to workplace harassment and the Employment Rights Act rose by 47 per cent over the same period.

The increase comes at a time of heightened sensitivity around workplace reporting culture. Research from University College London previously found that nearly one in seven UK workers has experienced workplace abuse, while calls to harassment helplines have increased by almost 40 per cent in the past year.

At the same time, Freedom of Information data indicates whistleblowing activities in part of the public sector has risen as much as 250 per cent year-on-year, reinforcing concerns that formal complaints are increasing as informal resolution breaks down.

Commenting on the findings, Vivek Dodd, CEO of Skillcast, said: “What we're seeing here is a clear shift in what compliance actually means in practice. Documentation alone will no longer cut it. Businesses need to be demonstrating operational credibility: they need to be able to show that concerns and complaints are properly handled, investigated thoroughly and acted upon in a proper and timely manner.

“As reporting activity increases and legal protections widen, the risk for employers is moving away from policy gaps and towards process failure. Training is critical here, because it’s the people on the ground who ultimately determine whether your policies are being followed day-to-day. Employers need to ensure policies are clearly communicated, supported by reporting processes that staff can trust, and backed by consistent action when concerns are raised.”

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is expected to intensify this trend by strengthening whistleblowing protections and expanding employee rights to raise concerns from day one of employment. Legal experts suggest this will not only increase the volume of complaints but also raise the stakes for how employers respond.

Nickie Elenor, employment law solicitor, said: “The Employment Rights Act gives employees a new legally recognised route to speak up from their very first day on the job, with no qualifying period of employment required to do so. This matters most in sectors where harassment is endemic, and job security keeps people silent.

“It’s highly likely that we’ll see more whistleblowing and harassment cases in the near future, because when people know they have protected status when they choose to speak up about workplace misconduct, there’s far more empowerment around doing so. For employers, this significantly increases the importance of getting processes right from the very moment any new hires walks through the door.

“From now on, tribunals won’t just look at whether a policy exists in principle, but whether it’s actually followed in practice. A well-drafted policy that nobody has read achieves absolutely nothing. Poorly handled complaints can quickly lead to serious legal risks, including claims of harassment, detriment, breach of contract, discrimination and unfair dismissal claims. Mismanagement could be costly for employers, with compensation in harassment cases being uncapped and risks of significant awards of compensation for injury to feeling. The financial and reputational threats are just too fierce for companies to ignore.”

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