You don’t have to be a Minion to experience criminality in the workplace. But what should you do? And how do you protect yourself and your career?

The first thing to be aware of is that if you become involved in lawbreaking, you could get into as much trouble as the main perpetrator – even more so if the evidence only happens to point to you. Blaming your boss (essentially saying ‘She made me do it!’) will not work as an excuse.

If you have concerns about general poor attitudes to employment law at your workplace, then your first port of call should be HR. Make sure that you have examples to back up your claims in the form of emails and details of any relevant conversations you’ve had. You may well find that a quiet chat to the right person will be enough to begin solving the problem. If you find yourself in a position where illegal behaviour is affecting you personally, you may be tempted to resign. Try to resist this impulse: if you resign you may lose any potential claims for compensation, as well as leave yourself open to future accusations that you knew what was going on, and were complicit.

You should seek professional advice if you believe that the law is actively being broken at work. It needn’t be costly: the Citizens Advice Bureau (www.citizensadvice.org.uk) is free to use and they will be able to give you excellent advice on your rights and which steps you should take next. If you haven’t already, join a union that’s most appropriate to your profession and get in touch with your union representative. They will also be able to give you advice, simply for the price of your membership, on how best to proceed, and can even accompany you to meetings for support and as a witness. You can find out more here www.gov.uk/join-trade-union/joining-a-trade-union

It’s time to contact the authorities, for example the police or the Inland Revenue (hmrc.gov.uk) if you are concerned about serious breaches to financial or safety regulations. Evidence is the key to mounting a successful case against your employer, so needless to say keep it safely at home, or at the very least well away from the office. You must make sure it is in a good order and comprehensive, and that you’re completely sure of your facts: if you’ve got the wrong end of the stick or can’t support your allegations, you could end up on the wrong side of the law – being sued for slander and/or libel.

It may be very difficult assuming the role of a ‘snitch’ or a ‘grass’, but if you’re worried, keep in mind three very important things: firstly, if the situation is not tackled, it will only get worse, potentially leading to very real problems for you and your colleagues further down the line. Secondly, if you thought someone else was in a position to put a stop to misconduct but he or she did nothing, how would you feel? Finally, there is every likelihood that the problem is down to an individual, or a very small group at most. If you bring what they are doing to light, your employer will be incredibly grateful – and you will be the hero of the hour!