International Employment Lawyer
The UK government is to consider new ways to incentivise whistleblowers as part of a wide-ranging review and reform of existing anti-fraud legislation.
However, Littler’s Alison Sneddon says this assumption is not necessarily supported by available data.
“There are limited studies in this area, though some suggest that rewards schemes do not discourage internal reporting in the first instance,” she explains, noting that the SEC will reduce rewards for whistleblowers who did not first report internally.
And this policy seems to work, with roughly 83% of whistleblowers first reporting their concerns internally before contacting the federal agency, according to 2017 data.
Moreover, the National Whistleblowers Center in 2010 found 90% of workers who had filed lawsuits on behalf of the US government for fraud had first reported internally.
To encourage responsible engagement with internal whistleblowing procedures, employers should provide information on when whistleblower protection applies, advises Sneddon.
“It’s commonplace for whistleblowing policies to flag that if allegations are based on knowingly false information, this may result in disciplinary action for the reporter. This is obviously a high bar, but it sets the scene that reports should be raised responsibly,” she explains.
“This has to be messaged carefully, as honest staff may be concerned that their integrity will be called into question, particularly if they were the only witness or don’t have evidence to back up their report,” she explains.
“The real messaging to staff comes down to the culture, how the business embeds whistleblowing procedures through training and, importantly, how their leaders react to and treat concerns that are raised.”
