Whistleblowing procedures at work: what are the implications for human resource practitioners?

Abstract

This paper explains why it is desirable for employers to have whistleblowing codes, and draws upon professional guidelines and empirical research to suggest the possible contents of whistleblowing policies and procedures. The paper discusses who and what should be covered and examines the issues of confidentiality and anonymity, reprisals and malicious allegations. It also highlights the need to provide advice and assistance to those who have concerns about wrongdoing at work. The author outlines the possible stages in a whistleblowing procedure, indicates how a concern should be raised and handled, and suggests how a procedure might be communicated and monitored. The paper concludes by emphasising that whistleblowing procedures provide an important safeguard against problems being overlooked and may be vital if legal pitfalls are to be avoided.

A Content Analysis of Whistleblowing Policies of Leading European Companies

“…This analysis is relevant for several reasons. First, the content of whistleblowing policies has a direct effect on its effectiveness (Lewis, 2002). Second, the results are relevant to understand the impact of recent regulatory changes on the content of corporate whistleblowing policies.…”

Whistleblower-ordninger - Offentlighed, kritik og risikohåndtering

“…har Vandekerckhove (2006) undersøgt, hvordan begrundelserne for at indføre whistleblower-ordninger påvirker deres endelige udformning og diskuteret implikationerne af, hvordan whistleblowing kan tolkes som både rettighed og pligt i forbindelse med disse (Vandekerckhove & Tsahuridu 2010). Andre studier belyser de praktiske og juridiske aspekter af den konkrete implementering af whistleblower-ordninger (Lewis 2001(Lewis , 2002(Lewis , 2006Lind 2011; Søndberg & Winther 2011; Johnsen 2011: 1) samt ledelsens handlerum i denne nye kontekst (Smith & Oseth 1993). Whistleblower-ordninger kan i forlaengelse heraf forstås som et udtryk for en tendens, hvor virksomheder under deregulerede neoliberale betingelser kan adressere kritik fra samfundet ved at regulere sig selv igennem forskellige CSR-initiativer (Pemberton et al 2012: 264).…”

Politics of Disclosure: Organizational Transparency as Multiactor Negotiation

“…By disclosing information, these individuals put themselves at high risk. Although information about an organization is made visible to outside observers, the transparency that comes from whistle‐blowing is one that is solely linked to an individual's motivation and affect—at least in cases in which organizations lack specific whistle‐blowing regulations intended to organizationally shield or even incentivize individual whistle‐blowers (see, e.g., Lewis ).…”