Whistle-blowers' bill
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the rights of truck drivers who expose criminal employers.
A private member's bill currently being drafted by Conservative MP Richard Shepherd with the help of the Department of Trade and Industry will give better protection to employees—and possibly the selfemployed—who find themselves working for an organisation which forces them to commit crime, fraud or malpractice.
Currently anyone who complains about the health and safety record of an employer and is then sacked can only claim a maximum of £11,300 compensation from an industrial tribunal.
Shepherd, the MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, wants there to be no limit to the possible pay-out. He also wants the law extended to protect workers who blow the whistle on employers over other areas of public concern, such as fraud.
Shepherd's bill is expected to receive all-party support. It could start its parliamentary passage by the end of the year.
Guy Dehn, director of the charity Public Concern at Work, says: "This bill will give a signal that the bargaining power is shifting away from criminal employers and towards staff who want to expose them."