Whistle-blowing legal protection – a Global Issue
Table of Contents
Whistle-blowing legal protection – blowing the whistle definition, motives of whistle-blowing, ethical issues with whistle-blowing, how to blow the whistle on a company, reasons to whistle-blow, when is whistle-blowing morally wrong, importance of whistle-blowing in an organisationis, whistle-blowing ethical or unethical. People also ask; What do you mean by acting in the public interest? What is a public interest law firm? What is the public sector in law? What is the public interest theory?
As it is, If you’re at work and you see dangerous or illegal activity you might want to report it. But many of us wouldn’t blow the whistle in workplace. Why is this?
In fact, Experts on employment law have found that most whistle-blowers are actually dedicated workers, not disgruntled employees interested only in personal gain.
Whistle-blowers blow the whistle for some of these reasons:
To Bring Positive Change in the Company:
The typical whistle-blower is an individual who is keenly interested in the success of the company. He or she works hard to contribute to the business and sees him-or herself as having a personal stake in the company’s future. The whistle-blowers knows that the success of the company is also his/her success. Therefore,when such individual uncovers misdoings by a co-worker, supervisor, or an entire department, he or she may choose to expose these problems in an attempt to improve the company.
Whistle-blowing legal protection
Also Read: The Problems of Whistle-blowing IN NIGERIA
What do you mean by acting in the public interest?
To Protect the Public:
Another reason why a person might become a whistle-blower is to protect consumers and the public in general. Often, the misdeeds of businesses and organizations lead to some sort of risk for consumers. The Concept of Public Interest defines ones/organisational attitude towards the public well-being. It is the Welfare of the general public (in contrast to the selfish interest of a person, group, or firm) in which the whole society has a stake and which warrants recognition, promotion, and protection by the government and its agencies. Despite the vagueness of the term, public interest is claimed generally by governments in matters of state secrecy and confidentiality. It is approximated by comparing expected gains and potential costs or losses associated with a decision, policy, program, or project.
Whistle-blowing legal protection
For example, a whistle-blower might work for a medical device manufacturing company that has designed a new metal-on-metal hip implant. The person might uncover clinical evidence that this particular design has a high rate of early failure and can significantly increase the risk of heavy metal toxicity in patients. However, this individual realized that this clinical evidence was never shown to the FDA or to the public. The person might decide to become a whistle-blower because he or she is concerned for the welfare of patients who use that particular hip implant.
To Obtain Compensation:
One of the perks of being a whistle-blower is that if any monetary damages are recovered as a result, the whistle-blower is entitled to a portion of them. This may be one reason why whistle-blowers have such a poor reputation. However, it’s worth noting that most whistle-blowers first report problems to a supervisor or other person at their company. Then, if a cover-up is attempted or the problem is otherwise left unfixed, the person might turn to a labour law attorney for help. Certain provisions of whistle blowing laws prohibits retaliation against whistle blowers. This may afford protection to those who do come forward.
In this connection,Is whistle-blowing ethical or unethical? Why then are people scared?
People often are too scared to report their concerns about the wrongs they have witnessed at work. So rather than blowing the whistle, many people elect to just turn a blind eye for fear of how reporting any wrongdoing might impact upon their career.
Whistle-blowing legal protection
It’s a dilemma. Common worries about whistle-blowing for workers in the globally include a fear of losing ones job, being mistreated by colleagues as a result and not being listened to or believed in the first place. Sadly, some of these concerns are valid. It is a known fact that over half of whistle-blowers in globally are treated differently at work after they raised their concerns and many others feel isolated following raising a concern.
Read Also: WHISTLEBLOWING IN NIGERIA
Incidentally, many workers are either fired or made redundant as a result of blowing the whistle. No wonder people are afraid of losing their job if they come forward and make a disclosure. But the law is there to protect you in this situation. Taking advice from a specialist lawyer can help you blow the whistle more safely, with a better bargaining position.
Then; What is the Whistle-blower Protection Act?
OECD WHISTLE-BLOWING (ANTI-CORRUPTION) BLUE PRINT:
At the Seoul Summit in November 2010, G20 Leaders identified the protection of
whistle-blowers as one of the high priority areas in their global anti-corruption agenda.
Recognizing the importance of effective whistle-blower protection laws, Leaders, in point 7 of the G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan, called on G20 countries to lead by:
Whistle-blowing legal protection
- To protect from discriminatory and retaliatory actions whistle-blowers who
- report in good faith suspected acts of corruption, G-20 countries will enact
- and implement whistle-blower protection rules by the end of 2012.
- To that end, building upon the existing work of organisations such as the OECD and
- the World Bank, G-20 experts will study and summarise existing
- whistle-blower protection legislation and enforcement mechanisms, and
- propose best practices on whistle-blower protection legislation.
- The G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (AWG), in charge of carrying out the Action Plan
- assigned the OECD the task of preparing a concept note with proposals to implement this point.
Following a discussion of the concept note at their meeting on 25-26 February 2010 in Paris, the G20 Members reiterated the value of a study of the main features of whistleblower protection frameworks currently in place in G20 countries, together with guiding principles and best practices, to help them carry out their commitment under Action Point 7.
For that purpose, the Members asked the OECD:
To prepare a blue print of the study on best practices for discussion and
adoption at the Bali meeting; leading to the preparation of a compendium of
best practices and guidelines for legislation on the protection of
whistleblowers by the Cannes Summit.
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| OECD ANTI-CORRUPTION BLUE PRINT |
A blueprint of this Study was presented by the OECD and agreed upon at the Bali meeting of the AWG on 12-13 May.
Why then are people scared about whistle-blowing?
Often people do not know the legal protection they can get when blowing the whistle, or how a Whistleblowing Lawyer can help to maximise that protection when making a disclosure.
Again, in relation to this, people also ask;
What is the Whistle-blower Protection Act?
What do you mean by whistle blowing?
How does whistleblowing protect you?
What is meant by the term whistle-blowing in childcare?
If you have been following very well, you will notice that some of these questions are answered already. So read on for further answers to some of the outstanding ones.
Employees can benefit from the practical advice an Employment Lawyer can offer on how to raise a concern that is of public interest whilst protecting themselves against reprisals and avoiding difficulties at work. We could help you on how to go on in this matter. Our team of legal practitioners will help you a lot.
Deacon Anekperechi Nworgu, a seasoned economist who transitioned into a chartered accountant, auditor, tax practitioner, and business consultant, brings with him a wealth of industry expertise spanning over 37 years.
