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Temat: 2014 -- The Year Of The Whistleblower
2014 -- The Year Of The WhistleblowerThis is the Year Of The Whistleblower. Employers who do not take steps to address any employee concerns before they reach “whistleblower” status—like strengthening internal reporting and compliance programs—do so at their peril.
Federal law has long provided protections to employees who report regulatory violations by their employers. More than twenty federal statutes in areas such as food safety, aviation, and environmental law contain whistleblower provisions. But the new age of whistleblowing came into being in September 2011, when Bradley Birkenfeld received a staggering $104 million from the IRS for reporting a tax evasion scheme involving his employer UBS—even though he was convicted and jailed for participating in the very same scheme! Since then, whistleblowing has snowballed.
The Dodd-Frank financial reform law added additional whistleblower provisions and led financial regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to open special whistleblower offices. The SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, established in 2011, was a bit slow off the mark and only granted its first award in August 2012 (for a nominal amount). But in October 2013, the SEC announced it had awarded more than $14 million to an individual. This large cash payout—which was called a “game changer” at the time—will lure employees in various other companies to be the next to win a whistleblower jackpot. The securities plaintiffs’ bar has also created their own “whistleblower” practice groups which are actively trolling to find the world’s next Bradley Birkenfeld.
So what should an employer do? Companies with cultures that encourage internal reporting and prohibit retaliation are more likely to identify potential problems within their organizations before they become actual problems. Employees become frustrated when they believe their complaints are being ignored, and those frustrated employees often become whistleblowers, usually when the underlying problem continues to fester despite their efforts to have it addressed. Serious regulatory violations should always be reported to appropriate agencies, but the best practice is to create an environment where problems are identified and addressed in their nascent stage. Don’t let things get to the point where a whistleblower enters the scene…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theemploymentbeat/2014/01/...Ten post został edytowany przez Autora dnia 11.01.14 o godzinie 17:52