Employee Passport / HR practice guides
Checking for retaliation after a concern
Retaliation: Examine concerns about subsequent treatment separately from the merits of the original report.
Anonymised practice examples drawn from cases handled by our team.
Retaliation: practical approach
The practical response is to identify the types of decisions that could affect the individual and establish a suitable route for raising any concerns about them. Check-ins should not be treated as evidence that nothing adverse has happened. Where a specific change is reported, its timing, reasons and effect should be examined independently of the merits of the original disclosure.
What to check and record
A workload change or unsuccessful promotion application is not automatically retaliation because it follows a disclosure. Equally, a general operational explanation does not replace examination of reasons and records. Seek specialist advice on protection and subsequent treatment. Do not reclassify an unproven concern as misconduct merely because it remains unsubstantiated.
Learning for managers
The lesson is to examine the original concern and subsequent treatment as related but separate questions. A report can remain unsubstantiated while an adverse response to raising it still needs attention. The useful evidence would be the actual concern, management explanation, review and action, rather than a statement that the organisation has a speak-up policy.
Manager checklist
- Identify potentially adverse decisions
- Provide a route for concerns
- Check timing, reasons and records
- Assess subsequent treatment separately
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Further reading
General guidance for Great Britain. Use the relevant policy and advice for a live case.
EMPLOYEE PASSPORT / PRACTICAL HR SUPPORT
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