Whistleblowing Policy

Certain kinds of disclosure qualify for protection. These are disclosures of information which you reasonably believe are made in the public interest and tend to show one or more of the following relevant failures is either currently happening, took place in the past, or is likely to happen in the future:
• a criminal offence, including offences such as theft, fraud or acts of bribery
• the breach of a legal obligation
• a miscarriage of justice
• a danger to the health and safety of any individual
• damage to the environment
• deliberate concealment of information tending to show any of the above five matters.

Only disclosures of information that fall within one or more of these six categories qualify for protection.

Your belief must be reasonable, but it need not be correct. It might be discovered subsequently that you were, in fact, wrong or mistaken in your belief, but you must be able to show that you held the belief and that it was a reasonable belief to hold in the circumstances at the time of disclosure. Note that it is not your responsibility to investigate the matter. That is Boxing Futures’ responsibility.

You must also reasonably believe that your disclosure is made in the public interest. It will therefore not include disclosures which can properly be characterised as being of an entirely personal rather than a wider public interest, for example a disclosure about a breach of the terms of your own contract of employment which does not affect anyone else. In assessing the reasonableness of your belief in this regard, you should be aware that the following factors will be relevant: the number of individuals whose interests your disclosure served, the nature of the alleged wrongdoing, the nature of the interests affected and the extent to which they’re affected by the alleged wrongdoing disclosed and the identity of the wrongdoer.

For a qualifying disclosure to be a protected disclosure, you need to make it to the right person and in the right way. There are a number of methods by which you can make a protected disclosure, but Boxing Futures always encourages all employees, workers, agency workers, consultants and contractors to raise any disclosure internally in the first instance.

You are protected if you make a qualifying disclosure to either:
• Boxing Futures, or
• where you reasonably believe that the relevant failure relates solely or mainly to the conduct of a person other than Boxing Futures or any other matter for which a person other than Boxing Futures has legal responsibility, to that other person.

You are encouraged to raise any qualifying disclosures that you may have by following the disclosure procedure set out below.

If your concern relates to a breach of your own contract of employment which does not affect anyone else, you should use Boxing Futures’ grievance procedure instead as these types of disclosure are not made in the public interest (as they only affect your own personal interests) and are therefore not covered by this policy.

This procedure applies to all permanent and temporary employees and workers. In addition, third parties such as agency workers, consultants and contractors and any others who perform functions in relation to Boxing Futures should use it.

If you wish to make a qualifying disclosure, you should, in the first instance, report the situation in writing to your line manager (or designated Company contact if you are an agency worker, consultant or contractor), setting out in detail the nature of your disclosure. If you do not wish to contact your line manager, you can instead contact an alternative manager.

Such disclosures should be made promptly so that investigation may proceed and any action taken expeditiously.

All qualifying disclosures will be treated seriously. The disclosure will be promptly investigated and, as part of the investigatory process, you will be interviewed and asked to provide a written witness statement setting out the nature and details of your qualifying disclosure and the basis for it. Confidentiality will be maintained during the investigatory process to the extent that this is practical and appropriate in the circumstances. However, in order to effectively investigate a disclosure, Boxing Futures must be able to determine the scope of the investigation and the individuals who should be informed of or interviewed about the disclosure. Boxing Futures reserves the right to arrange for another manager to conduct the investigation other than the manager with whom you raised the matter.

Once the investigation has been completed, you will be informed in writing of the outcome and Boxing Futures’ conclusions and decision as soon as possible. Boxing Futures is committed to taking appropriate action with respect to all qualifying disclosures which are upheld.

You will not be penalised for raising a qualifying disclosure even if it is not upheld, unless the complaint was both untrue and made with malice.

Once Boxing Futures’ conclusions have been finalised, any necessary action will be taken. This could include either reporting the matter to an appropriate external government department or regulatory agency and/or taking internal disciplinary action against relevant members of staff. If no action is to be taken, the reasons for this will be explained to you.

If, on conclusion of the above stages, you reasonably believe that appropriate action has not been taken, you may then report the matter externally to the proper authority in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The Act sets out a number of prescribed external bodies or persons to which qualifying disclosures may be made and you can access these at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blowing-the-whistle-list-of-prescribed-people-and-bodies–2. However, Boxing Futures always encourages all employees, workers, agency workers, volunteers, consultants and contractors to raise their concerns directly in the first instance, rather than externally. This enables issues to be dealt with promptly and speedily.

Victimisation of an employee, worker, agency worker, consultant or contractor, or subjecting them to any form of detrimental treatment or retaliation (including bullying and harassment), for raising a protected disclosure under this procedure will not be tolerated by Boxing Futures, is a disciplinary offence and will be dealt with under Boxing Futures’ disciplinary procedure. Depending on the seriousness of the offence, it may amount to potential gross misconduct and could result in your summary dismissal

Be aware that you can also be held personally liable for any act of victimisation or detrimental treatment of an employee or worker on the ground that they made a protected disclosure.

You should immediately draw the attention of your line manager to suspected cases of victimisation or detrimental treatment related to either you or another employee, worker, agency worker, consultant or contractor having made a protected disclosure.

Covering up someone else’s wrongdoing is also a disciplinary offence. Never agree to remain silent about a wrongdoing, even if told to do so by a person in authority, such as your line manager.

Your right to make a protected disclosure under this procedure overrides any confidentiality provisions in your contract of employment.
Finally, maliciously making a false allegation is a disciplinary offence and will be dealt with under Boxing Futures’ disciplinary procedure. If you are a third party, such as an agency worker, consultant or contractor, it could result in your engagement being terminated.

This policy was approved on 1st April 2024.

Review date: April 2025.