A federal court held that a former employee seeking on acted in good faith, but under an objective analysis, his belief that the company was engaged in fraud was not reasonable and upheld termination. Day v. Staples, Inc., 2009 WL 294804 (1st Cir. February 9, 2009) The employee complained that the company improperly handled regularly … Read more »
Category: Whistleblower
Encouraging Courage on the Job
G. Jeffrey MacDonald takes a look at whistleblower policies in business for the Christian Science Monitor:When courage is encouraged on the job: How workplaces can motivate employees to take a stand when trouble brews. In business, the difference between a fixable mistake and an irreparable disaster sometimes hinges on whether employees dare to take a … Read more »
Best Practice Advice for Improving Employee Awareness of Your GRC Program
This post gathers my notes from a webinar entitled Best Practice Advice for Improving Employee Awareness of Your GRC Program which was presented by EthicsPoint. Barbara Upton-Garvin from the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City started off with a discussion of their awareness programs. They highlighted their ethics policies and their whistleblower’s policy. … Read more »
Whistleblower Hotlines for Home Builders
In running through the Compliance Week database, I ran across a few Whistleblower sites and related information for construction companies. Beazor Homes Confidential Ethics Hotline Through the Ethics Hotline, you can report evidence of known or suspected fraud, theft, accounting or auditing improprieties, other financial misconduct, or any other type of misconduct involving the assets, … Read more »
What are WIFs?
My notes from the EthicsPoint webinar on intake models and the value of web intake forms. The presenter was Erin Watkinson a business solutions consultant at EthicsPoint. A custom web intake form is a replacement for paper based forms. You can use the web to report on issues. Reporting should encourage employees to first go … Read more »
Update to the Federal Acquisition Regulations
The Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (Councils) have agreed on a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to amplify the requirements for a contractor code of business ethics and conduct, an internal control system, and disclosure to the Government of certain violations of criminal law, violations of the … Read more »
Military Whistleblowers Get Little Help
The AP released a story describing the poor performance of the Department of Defense Inspector General’s Office: Whistle-blowers get little help if punished. The inspector general’s office rejected claims of retaliation and stood by the military in more than 90 percent of nearly 3,000 cases during the past six years. More than 73 percent were … Read more »
CNiL Information on Whistleblower Systems
To follow-up on French Data Protection Authority Blocks SOX Whistleblower Programs and Whistleblowers in France, here is CNiL‘s FAQ on whistleblowing systems and guideline document for whistleblower systems. CNiL defined a set of rules to be followed for whistleblower systems to be compatible with French data protection laws: Unique Authorisation dated December 8, 2005 (in French, without … Read more »
French Data Protection Authority Blocks SOX Whistleblower Programs
As a follow-up to the Whistleblowers in France, John B. Reynolds, III and Amy E. Worlton of Wiley Rein LLP offer more insight to the programs and decisions. CNIL found that employees’ ability to lodge anonymous complaints would increase the likelihood of malicious false reports. CNIL also found that the two companies’ plans would not … Read more »
Whistleblowers in France
French privacy law limits the ability to use anonymous hotlines. In France, the French Data Protection Authority (La Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL)), an administrative agency, oversees processes involving the collection or compilation of personal data. In 2005 they decided that two reporting procedures were in violation of French privacy law. McDonald’s … Read more »