[co-author: Jane Norberg]
Until recently, trends in whistleblower reports and behavior seemed to only break through into the news cycle when an extraordinary story made it into mainstream headlines. Now, reports of whistleblower actions and payouts are more frequently making news, and regulations protecting whistleblowers continue to take effect globally.
First, while legislatively protected whistleblowing for certain types of issues has been in place in the U.S. for some time, the international regulatory landscape is even more prescriptive than the U.S. on process and whistleblower protections. Ongoing global legislation, such as the EU Whistleblower Directive, Japanese Whistleblower Protection Act, and the Australia Corporations Act, is impacting organizations’ processes to receive, investigate and follow up on reports. Keeping up with the new regulations is proving to be challenging, especially for organizations with multinational operations.
Second, tips to, and awards paid by, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower are setting records and getting attention from both employee reporters and their organizations. Further, a growing industry of plaintiff-side whistleblower attorneys feeding tips to the SEC and other agencies is capturing the attention of those who believe they haven’t been heard internally or fear significant retaliation for raising a concern.
Add all of this to stresses and workplace changes resulting from the pandemic...
Blow the whistle, get paid. A Justice Department bounty program that incentivizes employees to blow the whistle on their employers could lead to more whistleblowing as the Trump administration inte...