This stark message, from David Lewis, professor of employment law at Middlesex University, will be given later this month, as he launches a cross-industry whistleblowing award, designed to highlight the value to society of an individual or organisation making a disclosure of information in the public interest.
Despite a rise in the use of confidential reporting procedures in large FTSE companies (Lewis' own research suggests that more than eight out of ten 250 FTSE firms have had their procedures invoked), many smaller organisations and SMEs have no formal mechanisms for employees to confidentially report wrongdoing. This is likely to get even more problematic when the Bribery Act comes into force in July.
Lewis said: "Bribery, fraud and malpractice can happen in any business at any level, but organisations in the private and public sectors can put procedures in place that allow them to receive information about possible problems before they escalate. Confidential reporting procedures also remove the need for workers to make external disclosures that damage the company's reputation."
Lewis proposed the award as a way of recognising the importance of reporting concerns about wrongdoing. He added: "Recent events, for example in the care and financial sectors, demonstrate that we need to keep this at the top of the UK agenda. It takes courage and determination to report something such as theft, fraud or bribery and so it is preferable for businesses to make it easy to report corruption and then deal with problems properly and avoid reputational damage."
The award will be launched at the International Whistleblowing Research Network's conference on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 June at Middlesex University, London.
