A Clear Whistleblower Policy Can Benefit Your Business

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If you own or operate a business, you might not have thought much about what would happen if an individual within your organization blows the whistle on potential illegal or unethical activities.

Having a whistleblower policy in place can help protect your company and ensure that your employees feel they are protected if they believe there are internal practices that need to change. It also provides you with a process to handle these claims, whether they turn out to be true or are simply false allegations against your business.

Importance of a whistleblower policy

A whistleblower is an individual (usually an employee) who comes forward with a complaint of misconduct or questionable activities happening within your organization. In some cases, these complaints may be unfounded, while in others, the whistleblower may bring up legitimate issues that you need to address quickly.

An effective whistleblower policy offers clarity and assurance to your employees that they will be protected if they decide to bring up issues with the company’s management. They should not fear retaliation and should know the exact process they should use to make their report.

You should also be sure to define what whistleblowing is — and is not — in your policy. Basically, whistleblowing is limited to uncovering any illegal, regulatory or safety issues. Other complaints, such as an employee feeling as if he or she is being treated unfairly in the workplace, would not be considered a whistleblowing issue.

In addition to providing direction to potential whistleblowers, your policy should cover how other employees (including senior managers) should conduct themselves once a whistleblower complaint has been made. This can help to prevent retaliation, which can take a problem from bad to worse.

And, you should be sure to outline the consequences levied for making a false whistleblower claim. For most organizations, this involves terminating or demoting the guilty party.

For more information on developing and implementing a cohesive whistleblower policy within your business or organization, meet with an experienced Dallas attorney at Whistleblower Law for Managers today.

By Steve Kardell | Published June 19, 2017 | Posted in Whistleblower Litigation | Tagged Whistleblower Policy

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Testimonials

"Steve Kardell was terrific in representing me in some very adversarial discussions with Citigroup and also later represented me in my testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission." -Richard Bowen, Citigroup Whistleblower
"Incredible knowledge of employee related concerns and equally brilliant knowledge of health care regulations, standards of practice. I would recommend this firm to anyone." -V.B.
"Reaching out to Steve Kardell was the best decision I made. His ability to provide immediate insight and direction was very powerful, and a huge relief during a very stressful time period. For anyone struggling with a whistleblower situation, I would highly recommend at least speaking with Steve. After a 10 minute call with him, I had a better understanding of what I was dealing with. Even better, he gave me some immediate hope. In the end Steve did a better job than I thought was possible. Steve was able to get in contact with people in my organization, that I didn’t have access to. Because of his years of experience, he already has contacts in many organizations in Dallas. The entire situation was handled peacefully. I was impressed by his ability to “keep the peace”–rather than creating a battle with the organization. The reason I didn’t reach out to a lawyer initially, was because I thought it would mean an immediate end to any hope of a positive relationship with the company. Steve was able to address my concerns, and in the end I was able to continue to work for them." -KS
"Never thought my career would end like it did after 30 years of service. I was part of the first round of the so called reduction of force. I asked myself how can I be part of this with 30 years of seniority. How did they pick these 90 plus employees? Now, the culture of this organization made you question every decision they made. It wasn’t what you knew it’s was a culture of who you know. Nonetheless, I did not accept their severance package. I immediately starting looking for an attorney who would take on my case. After the initial call to Steve I had hope again. He was open and honest about everything and reassured me he would do his best for me, and he did. I had an awesome outcome. Thanks Steve you’re the best." -S.S.