Whistleblowing

Newbiesw

floss2 wrote: »

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.
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.

You may well be right here Floss2,
We know the Laws and how they are supposed to work.......but in reality ?, Employers will always find a way around them if they want to.
Take the recent Age Discrimination law, an Employer feels they have to waste time interviewing someone over a certain age to avoid an "Age Discrimination" case knowing full well they are not going to employ them, raising the hopes of that person with the prospect of a job they are not going to get......
I guess I must be more cynical and untrusting of the Employment Laws than you, which is why it looks like we're coming from opposite directions - but at least we have a common goal in mind?

Newbiesw

wearingamask

I'm grateful for all your replies.

I am aware there will be risk to my job but I am sure I will go ahead. I just need to figure out what route to take but it is good to know that if I do it correctly I will be protected (to an extent).

paulwf

wearingamask wrote: »

Thanks for the links. I have contacted a number provided in the staff handbook but they advised to contact CAB who are a nightmare to get hold of anyway.

That surprises me...I can't see why the supermarket would pass you on to the CAB. I would call the head office switchboard and either ask if there is a confidential employee number (there should be) or ask to speak to someone who deals with food safety.

You are right to report this, food poisoning can make people seriously ill or even kill someone. It only takes one bad supervisor at work to create a whole culture of bad hygiene as they set the standard for what staff think are acceptable.

This can probably be dealt with very quickly and painlessly, it only takes a call from the area manager to the store manager to give them a nudge to stop date changing and a reminder it is a sackable offence.

OP I'm really glad to see you are following this through, it requires people to stand up to bad practices to keep everyone safe. It is such a minor thing to correct hopefully they can deal with it quickly and informally.

DVardysShadow

Refuse to do it. You are going to create waves, but just refuse. You are fully within your rights to refuse, it is not a lawful instruction. If they insist, tell them it is not a lawful instruction but agree to obey if they can confirm that the instruction is lawful. And if they insist it is a lawful instruction, ask for confirmation in writing that it is lawful and if they are reluctant, then ask them to get their manager to confirm - all the way to the top if necessary.

That is the short of it. Of course, you are not going to get away scot free - you need to think about how to refuse and your strategy. As the others have advised, look at the whistle blower policies and think about using them in conjunction with refusal to obey a non lawful instruction.

Astarblond

I work for a whistle blowing company, and get calls of this nature all the time! Definetly look into your company policy and see if they have a whistleblowing line that you can contact as I know we do deal with a lot of the major Supermarkets.
If you do have one then you can stay anonymous, and then when the investigations taken place then just call back in for any feedback from the report.

HTH

Snuggles

I'm amazed that some posters appear to be suggesting that the OP shouldn't do anything about this for fear of making waves. The OP has witnessed illegal and dangerous practises which could have an impact on public health, and has a duty to report it to someone. If they do not report it, they become complicit.

OP, if it was me, I would go straight to the store manager, and I would have no hesitation in bringing the matter to the attention of the store's head office or environmental health if the manager does not take action.

I know there could be consequences for you, but personally, I would rather risk my job than stand by and do nothing.

HO87

Hi wearingamask

Before talking about how to deal with getting some form of action taken on your situation could I ask some question about what it is that you're concerned about? The dates you talk about, are these "Display Until", "Best Before", "Sell By" or "Use By" dates? Which date type is it that is being altered? Are they visible to the public?

It is a common misapprehension that all of these dates carry legal weight. With the exception of "Use By" which is usually only applied to high risk foods (such as you would find at a deli counter) they don't. It is only illegal to sell goods beyond their "Use By" date, the others are for the guidance of the retailer only who may continue to offer them for sale after those other dates have expired.

That having been said if, for example, the date being altered is the "Best Before" or "Display Until" and this date is visible to the purchaser then arguably (and dependant upon what was in the mind of the purchaser at the time) other offences may have been committed but it would not be illegal to offer those goods for sale per se, aside from any moral issue that is.

olly300

Snuggles wrote: »

I'm amazed that some posters appear to be suggesting that the OP shouldn't do anything about this for fear of making waves. The OP has witnessed illegal and dangerous practises which could have an impact on public health, and has a duty to report it to someone. If they do not report it, they become complicit.

That's because other people have done things in the past and have had to live to through the fall out.

If the poster is not bothered about losing their job then this isn't a worry but they need to clearly understand that whether their complaint is taken seriously or not and whether it is dealt with or not, their job is at risk from the moment they open their mouth.

Companies don't like people who rock the boat.

Snuggles wrote: »

OP, if it was me, I would go straight to the store manager, and I would have no hesitation in bringing the matter to the attention of the store's head office or environmental health if the manager does not take action.

If they go to the store manager they can quite easily lose their job before even getting to an outside agency or higher up in the company. Then they will just be the bitter ex-employee.

They need to work out the relationship between the different managers in the actual store before they put in a complaint.

Friends who have worked in supermarkets and other large retail stores have explained to me some of the relationships between different department managers and the store manager. Quite often they are best buddies or related.

Snuggles wrote: »

I know there could be consequences for you, but personally, I would rather risk my job than stand by and do nothing.

You will find not everyone has the same convictions as you even in jobs where their primary concern should be others safety. Even EH departments have been involved in this.

wearingamask

Paulwf - It was the confidential employee number I called and they told me to call CAB! It claims in the handbook this number can be used to confidentially report malpractice!

HO87 - They are mostly the company's own 'display life' dates that are being changed. For example a product may be allowed 14 days from opening within which to be sold. But once the date is changed from the original there is no way of knowing if this has exceeded the 'use by' date and I have seen incidents where this has been exceeded and others where an expired 'use by' date has been ignored. None of these dates are visible to customers.

Olly300 - The relationship between managers is exactly the reason I am unsure about dealing with the issue in store. I have never even met the store manager and have no idea how well he knows my dept manager.

I have now called a whistleblower helpline who are a charity advisory service. The person I spoke to asked a lot of questions and has told me he needs to discuss the matter with his supervisors before anyone will come back to me to advise me on the best action to take. Hopefully I will hear back in the next few days.

In the meantime, I have no intention of carrying out any of the date changing and will continue to refuse as I always have. I have made it very clear to my manager I am not happy with it but it still continues, even when they know I am around to see it! I think maybe they are not that clever as well as having morally questionable attitudes to food safety!

rupee99

There are a number of issues, but the OP should definitely not name their employer here.

One thing not mentioned (as far as I can see) is that should the person knowingly continue selling products that are a public health risk it is likely that they have committed a criminal offence, either conspiracy or accessory to endanger public health.

In whatever way possible s/he should make it known to the appropriate authority, either within or outside the company, that this is occurring. S/he cannot be dismissed, legally, for such actions although life may become uncomfortable in the workplace.