Companies Ignore Risks, Benefits of Whistleblowing
International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is urging multinational companies to move whistleblowing up their risk agendas as a global survey of more than 2,500 middle and senior managers reveals high levels of corporate complacency.
The survey found that more than one in ten (12%) employees have blown the whistle, while almost half of employees (46%) would consider blowing the whistle. However, less than one in ten (7%) say whistleblowing is currently an important issue for their organization and less than half (44%) say their companies either don’t have a whistleblowing policy or fail to publicize it if there is one.
On its website, the firm says the survey data also shows that employees continue to fear reprisal for blowing the whistle. More than one third (37%) of all employees surveyed believe senior management at their organization would either treat them less favorably or look for ways to terminate their employment if they blew the whistle. Four in every ten (40%) employees say their organization discourages or actively discourages whistleblowing.