Ethical Whistle-blowing
Whistle-blowing is exposing of secretive information or activities within an organization that is illegal. This organization can be private or public. This could also lead to a substantial financial award but the way you whistle-blow must be in a standard. Ethical whistle-blowing is the right way of exposing illegal activities in an organization.
There are two main types of whistle-blowing,
1. Internal whistle-blowing: When an individual advocate beliefs or revelations within the organization.
2. External whistle-blowing: When an individual advocate beliefs or revelations outside the organization.
Whistle blowing is important because it can help to avoid the public from endanger. There have been many whistle blowers in the history. One of the biggest whistle-blow in the history is the intelligence leak in NSA by Edward Snowden in 2013. He revealed the details of classified US government surveillance programs. Later he won the “Right Livelihood Award” for his act.
Elements of an Ethical Whistle-blowing
There are key elements in a whistle-blowing process.
Ensure the anonymity of the whistle-blower: The whistle-blower should be remained anonymous. It is important for the person’s present and future.
Make reporting essay: An easy way to whistle-blow must be established. It should be free. This can be a hotline or helpline mechanism.
Establish consistent protocols across all the departments: Every unit of the organization from upper management to the lower management should be on the same page.
Be prepared to act when fraud is detected: Should always be prepared for a fraud report. And false reports and accurate reports should be recognized.
Report to authorities appropriately: After ensuring that there exist a real fraud, a report is made and the appropriate authorities are informed.
Set up recording and tracking process: All the reported frauds should be stored in the system with the related data.
Steps/procedure for an ethical whistle-blowing
There are 4 main steps in ethical whistle-blowing.
1. Get evidence
The most important step in whistle-blowing is getting the evidence of the fraud or the illegal action. These evidences can be emails, reports, footage, letters, etc. The sources you collect as evidence should be confidential and should not be collected from the public. The more evidence you have is better.
2. Present the evidence
Before presenting the claim, the whistle-blower must find an appropriate government agency to discuss the claim. The evidence must be shown to the agency. Then it should be filled and submitted to the relevant institutes.
3. Government investigation
After case is filled, government starts investigating the case. This takes time. During this period, the whistle-blower’s identity and suspects of the case are remained confidential. The whistle-blower must help and co-operate with the government with the case.
4. The decision
This is the final step. After investigating the case, the identity of the whistle-blower is disclosed. Then the necessary actions are taken against the company if the case is won. It is illegal for a company to retaliate against the whistle-blower.
Resources
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
