Week 5.1 shradha
- 2. Introduction Areas to be covered Whistleblowing concept Retaliation protection Legal aspects related to whistleblowing Importance of whistle blowing
- 3. Whistleblowing Practice of disclosing an wrongdoing by other employees/managers/top management of the company (Thüsing & Forst, 2016). Involves informing these illicit practices by an employee Whistleblowing enables for better accountability
- 4. Retaliation protection The employee who is a whistleblower is protected against any retaliation The employer may not treat the employee unfairly There are various laws providing protection against retaliation
- 5. Whistleblower retaliation types There can be many forms of retaliation Withholding payment/salaries/bonuses Not giving promotion Intimidation by the management Firing/ laying off
- 6. Whistleblowing laws (Whistleblower protection act, 1989) This law empowers the employees to disclose any information related to illicit activities in their companies Issues such as corruption, wastage, and illegality can be reported
- 7. Whistleblowing laws (No FEAR Act of 2002) This protects the employees from any harmful retaliation Protects the employees against discrimination by the employer (Yeoh, 2014). Encourages reporting in order to ensure ethicality of practice
- 8. Whistleblowing laws (Sarbanes – Oxley Act, 2002) This act ensures better financial accountability of organizations In some cases this act mandates whistleblower disclosure Failure to ensure such disclosure can attract criminal liabilities
- 9. Importance of whistleblowing Ensures better and legal practice by companies Ensures the company is more committed to minimize corruption and related activities
- 10. Importance of whistleblowing Whistleblowing also empowers the employees to report the illicit activities of the employers Whistleblowing policies helps develop a system of checks and balances
- 11. References Thüsing, G., & Forst, G. (Eds.). (2016). Whistleblowing-A Comparative Study (Vol. 16). Springer. Yeoh, P. (2014). Whistleblowing: motivations, corporate self-regulation, and the law. International Journal of Law and Management.
Editor's Notes
- #2: Hello and welcome to this presentation presented by myself, Shradha Khanal. Today the topic that we will discuss is Whistleblowing and Retaliation Protections.
- #3: Today we shall discuss whistleblowing and retaliation protection and its related policies. Various aspects including the legal aspects shall be highlighted in this regard and the reasons due to which this is important for employees. Whistleblowing is an important concept which enables an organization to ensure ethicality and legality of its operations.
- #4: Whistleblowing is basically a practice whereby the employees report certain wrongdoings by the co-workers, supervisors or any other employee of the organization. A whistleblower is a person who exposes information or activities within public, private or government organization, which is involved in illicit, unsafe, fraudulent activities. This can be referred to as "blowing the whistle", "making a disclosure", or "making a whistleblowing report."
- #5: Retaliation is one of the most frequent outcomes when an employee becomes a whistleblower. Retaliation protection is basically a protection which is provided to the employee by law, whereby the employer cannot take adverse actions against such employees. The retaliation may include firing the employee, laying off or denying overtime pay etc.
- #6: Major forms of retaliation against an employee who is a whistleblower, may include demoting an employee, denying any payment against overtime, delaying/withholding payment etc. In addition, many employees who are whistleblowers may be subjected to intimidation and harassment by the employer. Whistleblower retaliation can be as extreme as wrongful termination – that is, the loss of the employee's job or wrongful constructive termination, in which the employer makes working conditions so intolerable for the employee that she or he has no choice but to resign. Whistleblower Examples Include Employees Who Report Corruption, Discrimination, Harassment, and Fraud.
- #7: The laws related to whistleblowing in USA is provided in “Whistleblower protection act, 1989”, which was enacted to provide protection to the federal employees who disclose the government illegality, corruption or wastage. According to this law, in case of any wrongdoing or illicit company activities, an employee can approach his/her immediate supervisor or HR manager.
- #8: Another act called as No FEAR Act of 2002, discourages the federal managers from engaging in discriminatory and harmful retaliation. These forms of retaliation are harmful and the managers are held accountable for such actions under this law.
- #9: This act was enacted to establish and provide assistance for regulation of financial practice. Devised by the congress in order to deal with the challenges in business environment, and this made mandatory whistleblower disclosures. This is applicable under certain circumstances and failure could result in criminal proceedings.
- #10: Whistleblowing is greatly important in order to maintain positive image of the company and ensure ethicality of business operations. This is essential in order to ensure that the companies adhere to their legal obligations and carry out business activities transparently and ethically.
- #11: Whistleblowing is also a method of empowering the employees to report any misconduct or illicit activities going on in the company. This increases accountability in the part of the company to ensure ethical practices. Likewise it enables justice and transparency and encourage a culture of openness and accountability. Overall, it makes a good environment in which workers can feel safe and protected from issues that could harm them.