9.0 BUT, WHAT REALLY HAPPENS TO THESE WHISTLE BLOWERS?
Reality is shocking and sometimes stranger than fiction. Let us look at some cases.
! Closer home, we have Manjunath Shanmughan, an IIM graduate who was employed with the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd [ IOCL ], who was murdered on 19- Nov-2005 for sealing a corrupt petrol station in Uttar Pradesh.
! Satyendra Dubey, an IIT graduate who was employed with the Nation Highway Authority of India [ NHAI ], wrote an open letter to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vaypayee exposing the unfair dealings in highway constructions. He was later found murdered on 27-Nov-2003.
! Myron Mehlman, who was employed with Mobil, found that the gasoline being sold by the company in Japan contained benzene in excess of 5 % and this was dangerous. He was subsequently fired in 1999.
From this, it is pretty evident that strong whistle blower protection acts need to formulated and acted upon.
10.0 THE INDIAN WHISTLE BLOWERS POLICY ' S LEGAL JOURNEY Laws and regulations put together for the legal protection of whistleblowers is termed as ' whistleblower ' s protection '. On August 26, 2010 this bill was introduced in the Parliament and was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 27, 2011. It was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on March 29, 2012 and is currently pending there.
11.0 AREAS WHERE WHISTLE BLOWING CAN BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE No company is immune to crime or fraud and we see that increasingly most companies are adopting a whistle blower mechanism to encourage employees to report crime. I believe that any organization, from private to non-profit, across industries will benefit from adopting anonymous reporting mechanisms. It is an important initiative for organizations that wish to improve their corporate governance, risk mitigation measures and ensure good compliance to policies and ethics.
Whistle blowing can prove to be effective in all types of organizations.
! For whistle blowing to be more effective, it is very important for the company to enlist the support of its top management. According to the trickle-down effect, this is the best way to communicate to the employees that the company actually believes in whistle blowing.
! The whistle blowing policy has to be very clear and effective communication of the policy to the users has to take place. This can be done by frequently sending e-mails and dedicating a hot line number purely for this purpose.
! Users should also be given training sessions on the types of corporate crimes that can take place, how to spot crime and how to report it. In many cases it is found that employees are not trained enough to be able to spot crime that happens right before their eyes.
! These trainings have to be conducted periodically and it has to be given to employees of all ranks – starting from the house cleaning staff to the top management officials. Awareness can be also be raised by conducting video making or poster designing contests with ' wiping corporate crime ' as the theme. This will generate a lot of interest among the employees and is sure to catch the attention of many.
! Once a concern / complaint has been lodged with the whistle blowing committee, it is essential that an initial inquiry is made at the earliest. If the concern turns out to be genuine, then a detailed investigation has to be carried out and the wrong doers have to be awarded appropriate punishment.
Most importantly, it is imperative to reward the whistle blower. This can be done by publicly acknowledging his act and giving him incentives / prizes. But in some cases, the whistle blower would prefer to not reveal his identity; these shall be treated as exceptions.
12.0 WHEN IS WHISTLE BLOWING ETHICAL?
Whistle blowing is considered to be ethical under the following 5 conditions [ 7 ]:
1. When the company, through a product or decision can cause considerable harm to the public, or break existing laws.
2. When the employee identifies a serious threat of harm, he / she must report it.
3. When the employee ' s immediate supervisor does not act, the employee should exhaust the internal procedures and chain of command to the board of directors.
4. The employee must have documented evidence that is convincing to a reasonable, impartial observer that his / her view of the situation is correct.
5. The employee must have valid reasons to believe that revealing the wrongdoing to the public shall result in changes necessary to remedy the situation.
On the other hand, if there is evidence that the employee is motivated by the opportunity for financial gain or media attention, or that the employee is carrying out some personal vendetta against the company; then the legitimacy of the act of whistle-blowing must be questioned.
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