According to global statistics, about half of all cases of corporate abuse are reported, and half of these reports come from employees within the company. The survey also reveals that corporate abuse can harm the company's reputation and cost it up to 5 % of its annual turnover, meaning that companies have a strong financial interest in promptly exposing potential abuses. In this article, Alexandra Bognár and Noémi Suller discuss various forms of misconduct within companies, highlighting the importance of a well-functioning whistleblowing system. This system allows people to report misconduct, even anonymously.
In the past, companies were free to decide whether to set up a whistleblowing system. This is now a legal obligation in nearly all EU countries. In Hungary, companies with 250 or more employees have been obliged to have a whistleblowing system in place since 24 July 2023. Likewise, smaller companies with 50 to 249 employees must do so by 17 December 2023, and may even share a system.
What can or should be reported?
Misconduct can be any unlawful act or omission. Reports can thus stem from anyone in the company who has information about actions that are not just morally questionable but possibly illegal, causing harm to the company or an employee.
Examples of misconduct include an employee using or sharing confidential company information for personal purposes (e.g. leaking a customer database to a competitor) or managers colluding with business partners and...
The Philippine presidential office has not confirmed months-long speculations that President Ferdinand Marcos had been diagnosed with a serious illness, contrary to false claims in a fabricated gra...