Establishing internal procedures for employees to report unethical
behaviour could prevent firms facing revelations like those that
overwhelmed Enron and WorldCom, writes Ross Bentley.
"Whistle-blowing is not an easy thing to do", says Theo Blackwell,
chief policy specialist at the Work Foundation. Employees may be
the first to come across malpractice but they also have the most to
lose so, if firms do not make it possible for them to report it,
they might take the information elsewhere or not raise it at all,
he says.
Blackwell says that organisations that don't set up a
whistle-blowing policy could be missing a trick. "Imagine you are a
director of a company and you only hear about a major problem when
it is too late to do anything," he says. Having an established
route for issues to be raised is an important part of a risk
management strategy and can be a good corporate governance tool.
A recent survey by the Work Foundation found that almost half of
the 281 organisations polled had no formal policy about how to
raise concerns about corporate behaviour - 32% in the private
sector and 75% in the public sector.
Yet it is three years since the Public Interest Disclosure Act came
into force, encouraging organisations to set up whistle-blowing
policies; providing protection against victimisation for staff who
raise concerns; and allowing employment tribunals to compensate
whistle-blowers who are victimised. So far 930 claims have been
lodged with employment tribunals.
Blackwell says that attitudes to whistle-blowing are changing.
"Most people recognise that there is a need to stop wrong-doing -
whether it be calling ChildLine, contacting Crimestoppers or
revealing corporate malpractice - things like this are separate
from being a 'snitch'."
Policy blueprint
- Make whistle-blowing policy easy to understand
- Invite feedback from managers, staff, unions and lawyers
- Take steps to distinguish genuine concerns from malicious
complaints
- Ensure that staff know their rights; provide an independent
contact
- Contact charity, Public Concern at Work, for advice: tel
020-7404 6609,
www.pcaw.co.uk