Whistleblowing

hermum

I think that as it's bothering you enough to ask on here, I would contact EHS at your LA, put the ball in their court I don't think you have to give a name if you explain why you would like to be anonymous, that way if there's an outbreak of food poisoning you will have done all you could to prevent it.

floss2

Newbiesw wrote: »

I was thinking along the lines of anonamously if OP feels REALLY strongly about it AND wants to keep their job.
Don't you think there's a chance OP may compromise their position anyway by going the formal route with their employers having him down as "Troublemaker".
If you re-read my Post, I did not suggest OP names their employer as I'm aware employers look through Forums/Facebooks, I was just guessing the first question that would go through any reader of this Post "Wonder which one it is?", it was not advice.
Do you not think these things should be public or kept secret?

Newbiesw

As long as a person has made a "declaration in the public interest" in the correct manner, they should have protection under law, whether a company feels they have compromised their employment or not - it is a Tribunal matter if the company penalise the employee.

See HERE

terra_ferma

If you speak up you should be prepared to go all the way to employment tribunal, as the company will make your life hard, no doubt!

But if the world did not have a few brave people who fight for what they believe, it would not be a great place.
I've spoken up in the past when mismanagement and bad decisions effected the lives and wellbeing of many people, and although I paid a price I would to it again!
Just be aware of the likely consequences.

olly300

wearingamask wrote: »

ETA: They have passed previous routine EH inspections and have never taken away samples AFAIK.

I would have a "conversation" with the EH inspectors.

Depending on the individual inspector they will either ignore you, or do their job properly and take samples on their next inspection.

The situation will not cease unfortunately unless the EH inspector finds something that is dangerous.

Pound

Maybe when you're asked to change the dates you could stick the new label on top of the old one with the old use by date still visible to anyone that peels the label off.

Newbiesw

floss2 wrote: »

As long as a person has made a "declaration in the public interest" in the correct manner, they should have protection under law, whether a company feels they have compromised their employment or not - it is a Tribunal matter if the company penalise the employee.

Yours is a very good suggestion, but I was also taking the unknown "What if'" factors into account.
You suggest that OP should go via the formal route, the matter will be investigated, sorted out and OP will walk into work the following Monday and everything's fine.... and I sincerely hope it works out that way but....

"What if"..... OPs Manager tells them "Bad news, we have to lose some staff" or "Bad news with your appraisal/performance bonus" etc........."Oh no, its nothing to do with your Whistleblowing, purely coincedence (and you've got to prove it)"
"What if" a job/income was more important to OP than old food, but now OPs earnings are held down or job lost after taking your advice?
"What if" OP felt equally strongly about keeping his income AND bringing the old food problem to light (what a dilema!), my anonymous suggestion MIGHT be an option.
"What if" some of those "others unhappy about it" have also already mentioned it, OP could have kept his/her anonymity and their job and highlighted the problem as well.
(we've since learnt from OPs subsequent post that anonymity wasn't important nor "Naming & Shaming", but we didn't know that from the original Post)

The above were all unknown factors from OPs original Post, others have Posted more helpful options since, none of us can predict the outcome of our options, I'm only trying to offer a range of options for OP to think about, I'm not going to dismiss your suggestion as quickly as you did mine, but unless you can give OP a cast-iron guarantee to the outcome of your suggestion...... "What if"..........

Newbiesw

midnight_ninja

OP- we had a similar situation about changing dates in our butchery dept - they management found out by reviewing cctv footage - all employees involved where disciplined for this and told that they wouldn't have a job if it happens again - i'm sure if you approach a senior manager with your concerns they would keep your identity secret as i'm sure they would want to know what is going on

delain

Pound wrote: »

I can't help with your question but I used to work somewhere that did that with baguettes. The manager told us that since there was no way of knowing how old each baguette was we should look at the ham and throw it away if it was going green!

Ugh. I used to work for SSP/Compass group, who are a big company but run the cafe's at train stations and airports etc. More than once we had people bring back sandwiches with green ham _pale_ they used to knowingly buy out of date ingredients (ie the ham) and just freeze it. Eww.

Then you'd go into another branch for something safe like crisps and they'd try the hard sell on sandwiches :eek:

The correct reply being

'I used to work for SSP, I'm not touching your sandwiches'

I'm not afraid to name and shame

floss2

Newbiesw wrote: »

You suggest that OP should go via the formal route, the matter will be investigated, sorted out and OP will walk into work the following Monday and everything's fine.... and I sincerely hope it works out that way but....

I know from having gone through the experience that this is very unlikely to happen and is very likely to end up in a Tribunal, but if the OP decides to blow the whistle on their employer, it has to be done in the correct way to ensure that they have full protection.

Newbiesw wrote: »

.....The above were all unknown factors from OPs original Post, others have Posted more helpful options since, none of us can predict the outcome of our options, I'm only trying to offer a range of options for OP to think about, I'm not going to dismiss your suggestion as quickly as you did mine, but unless you can give OP a cast-iron guarantee to the outcome of your suggestion...... "What if"..........

Assuming the OP is an "employee", then any person dismissed for making a public interest disclosure has been automatically unfairly dismissed, regardless of their length of service, and anyone suffering detriment (e.g. loss of overtime or bonus, overlooking for promotion or even demotion) for the same reason has the right to take their employer to an Employment Tribunal.

Ivrytwr3

What happens when 'they' ask for proof of this tampering? It will come down to your word against theirs if you don't have proof of this.

I'm not sure how you would get such proof, but it's something to think about before you jump in if you decide to follow up your complaint.