Whistleblowing: Everything you need to know

At Whistlelink, we have delivered whistleblowing solutions for more than a decade. Experience matters! This is why we have compiled a guide with frequently asked questions about whistleblowing.

Frequently asked questions:

• What is whistleblowing?
• Why do whistleblowers need protection?
• What is the EU Whistleblowing Directive?
• How does the EU Directive affect me?
• Why is a whistleblowing system important?
• Why choose an external whistleblower solution?
• Anonymous whistleblowing

What is whistleblowing?

Whistleblowing occurs when individuals, in a work-related context, speak up when they encounter wrongdoing that can harm the well-being of the public. The main purpose is to identify and report serious misconduct in the workplace to management. The easiest way to report misconduct is through a whistleblower service or online system where employees can anonymously submit their reports.

Read more: Key factors to making your whistleblowing system work

Why do whistleblowers need protection?

Whistleblowers face high risks of retaliation, ranging from demotion or losing their job to being brought to court, facing negative economic consequences, or having their name tarnished.

The fear of suffering retaliation has severe consequences; in the Eurobarometer on corruption (2017), 81% of respondents said they did not report corruption that they had witnessed or experienced. Similarly, 85% of responders to the European commission’s public consultation (2017) agreed that workers rarely report concerns about threats or harm to the public interest. The main reasons being fear of legal and financial consequences. It is estimated that organisations on a global scale lose up to 7% of their annual turnover due to violations and misconduct.

Read more: Nine ways to protect employees from workplace harassment

What about the EU Directive on the protection of whistleblowers?

The main problem, as identified by the European Commission, was the fragmented and unequal protection of whistleblowers across the union. Whistleblowers often feared retaliation which discouraged them from reporting their concerns. For these reasons, the EU Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the “Whistleblowing Directive”) was adopted in late 2019.

The goals of the EU Whistleblower Directive are:

• To detect and prevent misconduct and breaches of Union law and regulations.
• Improving law enforcement by establishing effective, confidential, and secure reporting channels.
• To protect and enable whistleblowers by helping them to raise concerns without fear of retaliation.
  

Whistleblower protection refers to the reporting of wrongdoing related to Union law. This includes, for example, tax fraud, corruption, money laundering, offences related to public procurement, product and consumer safety, environmental protection, public health, and data protection. The EU also encourages national legislators to extend the scope in their respective national whistleblower laws, as well as penalize organisations for not complying with the EU Directive.

The deadline for implementing the EU Directive in the member states was 17 December 2021. As of today, many member states have not yet transposed the Directive into national law.

Read more:

• The EU Whistleblower Directive
• Where countries are at transposing the EU Whistleblowing Directive

Who is affected by the EU Whistleblowing Directive?

The obligation to implement secure internal reporting channels applies to companies and organisations with 50 or more employees and municipalities with 10 000 or more inhabitants. Plus, financial institutes at risk for money laundering, regardless of size. Organisations with less than 250 employees have another two years after transposition to comply with the EU Directive.

Whistleblowers should be able to submit their reports either in writing (for example an online solution) and/or orally (i.e., a telephone hotline). You must also arrange a physical meeting at the whistleblower’s request. Furthermore, not only employees that report about misconduct are protected by the EU Directive. The protection also applies to e.g., trainees, job applicants and former employees, suppliers, members of the board, as well as individuals helping whistleblowers in any way.

Read more:

• How to Get compliant with the EU Directive
• National whistleblowing laws in the EU
• The new EU Whistleblowing law: Should you be worried?

Why is a whistleblowing system important?

Implementing an internal reporting system is the best way to identify fraud and misconduct within your organisation. A whistleblowing function can prevent or reduce health, safety and financial risks and will allow you to address any problems at an early stage. By having a whistleblowing solution, you will also come across as an open and transparent organisation that cares about your employees, their wellbeing, and their opinions.

Read more: The importance of external reporting systems

Why choose an external whistleblowing service?

By choosing an external supplier, you will have a safe, secure, and compliant solution for your employees to report wrongdoings and misconduct. An external whistleblower function will help you manage cases in a secure and efficient way. You can easily follow up on all incoming reports. By adding an intake management, or recipient service, you will also receive help from experts when needed.

An external system can also guarantee the whistleblower’s anonymity or confidentiality in the best possible way. Other solutions, such as e-mail, will be problematic if the receiving manager is mentioned in the report.

Read more: Choosing a solution for your whistleblowing channel

Why focus on anonymous whistleblowing?

In order to have a successful whistleblower function, it is crucial to guarantee anonymity and confidentiality for the whistleblowers throughout the process. As previously mentioned, several studies have shown that employees often do not speak up unless they have the possibility of doing so anonymously. By providing several different reporting channels, chances are higher that people will speak up and report alleged misconduct. This will allow you to address the issue before the problem can escalate.

Read more: Implementing a whistleblower system: Our 6 best tips

We hope you have found answers to your most frequent questions about whistleblowing. At Whistlelink, we are proud to offer the most user-friendly, secure whistleblowing system, easy to use for both the organisation and potential whistleblowers. Our software is scalable and suitable for both smaller and larger organisations worldwide. Please contact us for further discussion and a free demo of our solution.