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Designing effective whistleblower policy
19 Nov 2022
The whistle-blower policy is a bridge for the employees to whistle-blow on a company level at the time of an incident or discover any improper act or wrongdoing within the organisation. Whistle Blowing policy meaning and its objective is to create an open work environment practice within the organization to encourage their employees to raise the voice on wrongdoings and enhance the belongingness.
The best way to design an effective whistleblower policy is by considering all the factors that are directly related to the whistle-blower practice. Businesses should aim to design the whistle-policy in a way that workers view favorably.
Importance of Whistleblower Policy
By designing and implementing an effective whistleblower policy a business allows or extends rights of their worker or employees to raise their voice against any illegal, harmful behaviour or any misconduct within the organisation.
The Whistle blowing policy and procedure are laid down in a manner which provides the provision to anyone who is the part of an organization or system to blow the whistle against anything but to do so one has also followed the right whistle blowing process and procedure given in the Corporate Policy.
It is critical that employers and all staff are acquainted with the rights and obligations of whistleblowers. By creating and advertising a whistleblowing framework, an employer can encourage a whistleblower culture in the organization.
Furthermore, raising awareness of whistleblowing is critical for establishing an open and accepting culture. Comprehensive and frequent whistleblowers training will allow the employees to prepare themselves with the requisite skills to fight corruption and unethical behavior.
Now, let’s discuss about the major components required to design an effective whistleblower policy
Major Components of a whistleblower policy
Objective of the policy
Policy objectives identify what is needed to achieve. To design an effective whistleblower policy it becomes crucial to define the objective of the policy very clearly. If the objective of the policy is not clear or not justifying the need for it, in that case it will become a new challenge to implement the same in the system.
Scope of the policy
To enhance the participation of workers or employees in the overall whistleblower program, a company or organisation has to extend the scope of policy so that everyone becomes a part of policy. It will also help at the execution level if it enhances the belongingness.
Governing Law
It is very crucial to look towards the legal requirement for designing an effective whistleblower policy. As of now, there are several act enacted in India which explains the purpose, eligibility and framework for the overall whistleblower program. To design and implement an effective whistle blower policy, it becomes necessary to consider the legal requirement so that the policy should be in accordance with the laws or act enacted in India.
For detail overview of the legal regime in India, please click on this link Legal Regime of whistleblowing in India
Who can be whistleblower/coverage of policy
Policies are designed for the purpose of implementing the process or changing any process in the company. For an effective policy, it is mandated to define the coverage of policy or the eligibility for the policy.
Whistleblower process flow for making complaint
An effective whistle blower policy should contain the complete process about the filing of a complaint mechanism. Whether the complaint process is via online or offline and how the mechanism is secure will keep the identity of the whistleblower as anonymous.
Reporting structure
For making a complaint about any wrongdoing, harmful behaviour or illegal activity in the organisation it is necessary to define the reporting structure. Reporting structure is the framework of form that any worker or employee has to fill for filing any complaint about the company or any organisation. It is necessary to defined the reporting structure in the policy to make it more efficient.
Handling of complaints
To make an effective whistleblower audit policy then it should contain the information about the handling of complaints process. Full disclosure about the team details and process to handle all the complaints.
Authority matrix
The Audit Committee of the company should only have access to whistleblower complaints. In response, the committee will refer a report of the complaint to the internal risk team or assign a law firm to help perform an accurate evaluation. To ensure independence, certain businesses outsource the method of investigating grievances received under the whistleblower program.
Timeliness for investigation
For every complaint there should be some time limitation. To make the process and as well as policy efficient there should be a time limit to close the complaint.
Closure of complaint
There should be proper criteria defined in the policy about the closure of complaints.
Protection to whistle blower
If one raises a complaint under this Policy, he/she will not be at risk of suffering any form of reprisal or retaliation. Retaliation includes discrimination, reprisal, harassment or vengeance of any manner.
Retaliation
Whistle Blower will not in any way be liable to disciplinary action or loss of benefits, right or prospects as a result of his/her action.
Responsibility of whistleBlower
The intent of this Policy is to bring genuine and serious issues to the fore and it is not intended for petty disclosures. Employees are expected to exercise their rights under this Policy in a judicious manner.
Conclusion-
Whistleblower policies are an essential aspect of corporate integrity, and they shield a company from fraudulent or unlawful activity. Having a whistleblowing policy indicates to workers that the company takes all misconduct very seriously and is dedicated to identifying and resolving it. Without proper training, employees may still be unable to come forward. To summarise, a whistleblower policy is not a privilege for organizations anymore; instead, it is now a necessity.
It will take a while to develop a mature whistleblower policy. However, a mature whistleblower policy with a whistleblowers protection policy is just a few clicks away from the expertise of WhistleFirst. WhistleFirst creates a practical whistleblowing framework through six ways -
Whistleblower policy - WhistleFirst carefully drafted a set of rules & regulations along with the implementation of best work principles intended to protect and safeguard the whistleblowers' rights and interests.
Communication poster - A poster is created which summarises the company's whistleblowing policy.
Training - A set of customized training videos are provided to both the employers and employees to share equal partnership and responsibilities through effective dialogue and communication.
Whistleblower reporting - WhistleFirst always promotes to "speak without fear" with the help of a personalized online platform, 24*7 available ethics hotlines, grievance email address, and local post.
