Doncaster Council whistleblowing policy to be amended to include sexual harassment protections
Councillors will be asked to approve the amendment in a meeting next week.
The City of Doncaster Council is set to amend its whistleblowing policy to include protections for those making allegations of sexual harassment.
Allegations of sexual harassment fell into the scope of protected whistleblowing disclosures from April 6, 2026, following the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025 in Westminster.
It means “workers who report sexual harassment are protected from detriment and unfair dismissal under whistleblowing legislation”, according to a council report.
The report asks members of the council’s audit committee to agree to protections being written into the authority’s whistleblowing policy in order for the council to fulfil its “legal duty”.
It suggests adding: “Sexual harassment – including any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature which violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. Sexual harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010 and may constitute a protected disclosure where it indicates wider wrongdoing, systemic failings, or breaches of legal obligations.”
According to the same report, produced annually by monitoring officer Scott Fawcus, eight concerns were raised through the whistleblowing procedure in the last 12 months.
None of these eight included allegations of sexual harassment, however, the new protections introduced in the Employment Rights Act 2025 is hoped to provide victims more confidence to report such behaviour.