Empowering employees to speak up

• Public Concern at Work is a charity that has helped and advised over 17,000 whistleblowers over 21 years.
• Encouraging whistleblowing is in the employer's best interests. With staff being the eyes and ears of the organisation, whistleblowers provide a vital early detection and alert function for internal problems that can and do arise.
• Studies of organisations in the United States that have whistleblower-friendly policies in place decisively show that such an approach eliminates a potential blame culture by shifting focus to understanding the problem and finding solutions, while resulting in fewer external complaints. They are also key to rebuilding public trust and crucial to publicly demonstrating good governance.
• However whistleblowing continues to be discouraged and even punished. Research by Public Concern at Work found that 75% of whistleblowers claim that they are ignored, and the most common action taken against whistleblowers is formal action such as disciplinary or demotion. So widespread mistrust prevails among employees that doing the right thing will actually result in a good outcome.
• With these challenges in mind, several initiatives led by Public Concern at Work have encouraged better practices in the UK. A Code of Practice for workers, employers and regulators based on the findings of the Whistleblowing Commission has been launched. The Code has been formally adopted by thirty-six organisations across several sectors including some financial services firms.

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