Whistleblower laws and other laws that that have provisions for employer retaliation protection are enforced by numerous government agencies. An apt example of this would be the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and its divisions, which enforce several major laws that directly, protect whistle blowers or have provisions to shelter employees against retaliation. Protection is also provided for reporting desecration of the laws, refusing to engage in any action made illegitimate by the laws, or participating in any proceedings under the laws.

The Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability Act, which is a part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, has been imposed by the Department of Labor. It safeguards employees of publicly traded corporations from retribution for reporting assumed violations of any rule or regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Protection is also provided for contravention of any provision of Federal law relating to deceit against shareholders. Not only does this landmark Act criminalize employer retaliation, it also requires publicly traded corporations to create procedures for internal whistle blowing. Apart from this, it also requires attorneys to become internal whistle blowers.

The laws based on Whistleblower Protection Act safeguards the interest of whistle blowers who work for the Federal government, and is imposed by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC). Apart from this, there are dozens of federal laws protecting whistleblowers or otherwise designed to protect workers from retribution or other unlawful treatment. There are also many related state and local laws. Often many lawyers are not familiar with the employment laws relating to whistle blowing and few are familiar of the laws outside the states in which they practice. Before making decisions based upon state laws, people are advised to do some research on their own and consult an experienced labor attorney, accustomed to representing plaintiffs. This should be done to educate themselves about the various federal and state laws, which might apply to protect them in their particular circumstances. Before blowing the whistle, it is advised to have adequate information regarding the protection provided by a whistle blower law or a like provision in another law.