British Columbia has expanded its whistleblower protection legislation to include employees at research universities and WorkSafeBC, offering new safeguards for staff reporting serious wrongdoing.
Effective Dec. 1, the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) now covers approximately 320,000 employees across 197 organizations, marking the final scheduled phase of its implementation in the broader public sector.
“By bringing employees from research universities and WorkSafeBC under the protections of PIDA, we are making sure that employees in the public sector feel safe and are protected should they need to report serious wrongdoing,” said Attorney General Niki Sharma.
PIDA provides a system for employees to report serious wrongdoing to designated officers within their organization or to the Office of the Ombudsperson. The act protects disclosers and participants in investigations from reprisals such as demotion, termination, or other negative impacts on their work conditions.
The legislation also ensures fair investigations and promotes transparency by requiring organizations and the ombudsperson to annually report disclosures received and the results of any investigations.
“I have every confidence in the staff at WorkSafeBC, and I admire the work they do to help injured workers,” said Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside. “They deserve to feel safe knowing if they speak up about problems in their workplace they will also be protected, as they should be.”
PIDA was passed in 2018 in response to the ombudsperson’s 2017 report, “Misfire: The 2012 Ministry of Health Employment Terminations and Related Matters,” which made 41 recommendations that the Province has fully implemented.
Since coming into force in December 2019, PIDA has been progressively implemented across the public sector, including government ministries, independent offices of the legislature, tribunals, Crown corporations, health authorities, public schools, and colleges.
As of December 1, the act now includes WorkSafeBC and the following six research universities: University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, University of Northern B.C., Simon Fraser University, Thompson Rivers University, and Royal Roads University.
Under PIDA, employees can disclose specific types of wrongdoing, including serious offences under provincial or federal law, substantial dangers to health, safety, or the environment, serious misuse of public funds or assets, gross mismanagement, or directing someone to commit such wrongdoing.
