Date 9 June 2009
According to Personnel Today, whistleblowing cases may be set to rise as a result of the significant job cuts caused by the recession.
This has been seen in an increase in whistleblowing helplines being set up within various sectors and earlier this week, the Royal College of Nursing opened a whistleblowing hotline after a survey of 5,000 nurses found that more than three quarters were worried there would be a negative impact on their career if they reported concerns to management.
The effect of the redundancies in any organisation can be significant with regard to the morale of staff as well as their trust and confidence in their employers. Where that culture of trust is lost in an organisation, employees may raise concerns about a company's conduct for the purposes of looking to create public scandal, rather than wishing to deal with the issues. There will be far fewer of such cases if there is a culture of trust in an organisation. It seems clear that employers need to focus on creating a culture where staff feel comfortable to raise issues internally and without fear of reprisals. This will apply across many sectors in employment, and it is very important that employers take this role and responsibility seriously.
The fact that a recent survey by the leadership consultancy Endaba found that one in four employees does not trust their HR department, suggests that employers have got a lot of work to do in this area.
If you have any queries as to the implications that this case could have on your organisation, please contact Helen Duffy on 01727 798021 or by email at helen.duffy@salaw.com.
© SA Law 2009
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