Websites of the Month: Why and How to Encourage Whistleblowing in Your Workplace

Our law (in the form of the Protected Disclosures Act) encourages employees to disclose unlawful or irregular conduct in their workplaces without fear of reprisal. 


Why encourage it?

“3 Reasons Why Whistleblowing is Important for Public and Private Companies” on the Compliance Line website here suggests that employers should actively encourage their employees to “whistleblow” because –

1. “The majority of fraud is captured through Whistleblowing”. It should be one of your frontline protections against financial loss from criminal activity.
   
   
2. “Whistleblowers are often close to the action and have the most important information”. 
   
   
3. “Whistleblowing helps align people so the organization can pursue its vision and mission”. You are in essence protecting your business from two serious risks - reputational damage and the negative consequences of corporate non-compliance.

Lockdown has subjected businesses and their employees to unusually high levels of stress – financially and generally. That is bound to expose companies to new and greater risks of unlawful conduct and loss, and with that comes an increased need to protect yourself and your business from those risks.


And how to encourage it?

“How to make whistleblowing work” on the Good Corporation’s website brings together multiple suggestions on how to create a successful whistleblowing system, whilst a whistleblowing platform like Code Red (“designed in accordance with the King IV code on corporate governance which encourages ethical business leadership and organizational culture”) or Whistle Blowers makes it easy to encourage effective and anonymous online reporting.