Paul Brennan, legal counsel at FAST, said:
"It is extremely encouraging to see that people are willing to lift the lid on unethical practice despite being unaware that there are laws existing to protect them."
Of 2,232 respondents, 65% were unaware of laws that would protect them from action by employers in the event of whistleblowing.
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 can protect employees who report their employers' criminal offences or failure to comply with any legal obligation. If sacked, an employee could bring a case before an Employment Tribunal.
The Tribunal can make an award to the employee of up to £50,000. In fact, a survey by whistleblowing organisation Public Concern at Work earlier this year revealed that, as a result of the legislation, UK employers pay out £10 million a year to persons fired after reporting illegal or unethical practices.
FAST hopes that by raising awareness of the laws protecting employees the numbers willing to blow the whistle will increase. At present, while 35% of persons surveyed regarded whistleblowers as heroes, nearly 46% specifically said that they would not take action to report their boss for using pirated software.
The research by YouGov on behalf of FAST.