According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), whistleblowers help keep the federal government “honest, efficient, and accountable.”
But in real life, if you see a problem, your first instinct might be to lie low out of fear that reporting the issue could endanger your federal job.
The good news is that legal protections exist to protect whistleblowers from retaliation, as long as reports are “based on a reasonable belief that wrongdoing has occurred, and if the disclosure is made to a person or entity that is authorized to receive it,” the OPM says. Read on to learn more about how federal employees can report wrongdoing.
Whistleblowers and “Protected Disclosure”
According to the National Whistleblower Center (NWC), a whistleblower reports waste, corruption, and fraud.
However, there is more involved than making accusations. First, reportable criteria are considered “protected disclosures” and include:
Second, you must use the proper reporting channels to ensure protection from retaliation. Actions to take can include:
Keep in mind that abuse or fraud concerning classified information might...
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