What is a Whistleblower Policy?

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Whistleblowing refers to reporting an unlawful activity in the organization by any employee of the organization. These activities can be corruption, wrongful trading, sexual harassment, unjust discrimination, etc. A company should guarantee entirely legal trade practices as per the government. However, what activities are being undertaken by our employees secretly may not be in the company’s knowledge. Some employees are aware of these situations or have faced unjust discrimination in the workplace and are willing to take steps against the same. These employees need to be protected to encourage other employees to feel free to bring forward such issues.

Whistleblower Policy ensures that the employees who step up against these activities are protected and safeguarded against the accused’s retaliation practices. Retaliation practices are the adverse actions undertaken to punish the employee or get revenge for throwing light on the accused’s criminal trials.

However, in some cases, the employee may file a false complaint and present fabricated evidence against the organization or other employees to harm the latter’s reputation or for personal gain. To avoid such instances, the organization must have a policy that specifies the actions against such employees and clarify the consequences of such dishonest practices. This policy covers the provisions about actions against such cases. Download our Whistleblower Policy Template to ensure that the employees overcome the fear of retaliation and report the unfair practices.

This policy illustrates the following guidelines:

• Meaning of the term ‘whistleblower’.
• The purpose and scope of this policy.
• The fundamentals of this policy.
• Protection against retaliation.
• The actions to be taken by the employees.
• Actions against the employees who fabricate such complaints.

Whistleblower Policy Template Sample

‘Name of the Company’s Whistleblower Policy describes the provisions regarding the employees who report any unethical conduct in the organization. We believe that it is indispensable that the employees feel free to speak up against the organization’s malpractices. We think that an environment of fear can have long term consequences. On our part, we guarantee that we will maintain the legality of all the activities we carry out. We pledge to take action against any unlawful activities that are brought to our attention.

Purpose

This policy is made to prevent victimization and other vindictive behavior towards the employee who speaks up against any unethical activities that they come across in the organization.

Scope

This policy applies to all the employees (current, former, and prospective) of ‘Name of the Company’.

Policy Fundamentals

The following is the list of actions that are considered as unlawful or retributive:

• Charges about workplace discrimination.
• Charges about workplace harassment (irrespective of gender).
• Charges about company activities that is NOT environment-friendly.
• Charges about company activities that damage society.
• Lawsuits for illegal dismissal.
• Participation in the imminent investigation of violations or misconduct.

Employees may file a complaint to ‘Position or Title of the Person’. The employees who come forward to speak against such practices are termed as whistleblowers. The employees who report such illicit activities MUST be protected at any cost.

Protection Against Retaliation

Retaliation refers to any adverse action against the employee to seek revenge and creates a hostile or threatening working environment for their complaint against the unlawful activities.

Retaliation activities include but are not limited to, the following:

• Cutting back compensation.
• Boycott from the corporate events.
• Intended negative work performance evaluation.
• Termination of necessary benefits.
• Victimization.

Employees that are denounced of retaliation and are found guilty will face disciplinary actions. The disciplinary actions may result in termination. Actions will also be taken against employees who continuously file bogus reports and are proven to be lying intentionally or fabricating the evidence for personal benefits.

Actions taken by the Company

Employees possess the right to voice their concerns or complaints to the ‘Position or Title of the Person’.

The company MUST maintain confidentiality about the whistleblower.

The investigation undertaken MUST be as covert as possible.

If any legal entity is involved, the employees MUST be protected from being the victim of retaliation.

The company must ensure an unbiased investigation when a complaint is filed against another employee.

The whistleblower will not be affected in any way when the complaints require immediate actions.

The alleged violator may experience an effect on their employment until the investigation is carried out.

In cases where the whistleblower faces disciplinary actions on matters UNRELATED to the offense, the company MUST provide official documents that explain the reason for such steps along with necessary evidence.