Serious wrongdoing can undermine your customers’ confidence and employees’ trust in their colleagues. Such wrongdoing includes conduct that poses a serious risk to public health and safety. Therefore, you should have workplace policies and systems in place to prevent and detect it. Sometimes, your employees are in the best position to report serious wrongdoing or misconduct in your workplace, as they are often the ones who witness it. It is critical to create a speak-up culture in your workplace. Some of the main reasons for the lack of reporting by employees include not knowing that whistleblowing policies are in place or being afraid of disciplinary action against them. This article explains what whistleblowing is and how to create a speak-up culture in your workplace to encourage your employees to report any workplace wrongdoing.
What is Whistleblowing in the Workplace?
When one of your employees witnesses serious wrongdoing in your workplace, they have a right under New Zealand law to make a protected disclosure. So long as they are acting in good faith, their disclosure is known as whistleblowing.
A person commits serious wrongdoing when they engage in acts that involve:
- using public funds or resources in an unlawful, corrupt, or irregular way;
- causing (including omissions) a serious risk to public health or safety or the environment;
- causing (including omissions) a serious risk to the maintenance of law;
- committing a criminal offence; or
- if the person is a public official, engaging in an oppressive, improperly discriminatory or grossly negligent act (including omissions).
However, you may be involved in the wrongdoing or have not taken any action after 20 working days following the disclosure. In this case, your employee can contact other ‘appropriate authorities.’ The Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022 defines ‘appropriate authorities’ to include bodies such as:
- the Ombudsman;
- Commissioner of Police;
- Director of the Serious Fraud Office; and
- Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.
Within your whistleblower policy, you should include terms outlining:
- who has access to whistleblowing protections in your organisation;
- what are protected disclosures;
- how your employees should make a protected disclosure;
- steps to ensure the employees involved in protected disclosures receive fair treatment;
- how your business supports and protects whistleblowers;
- how you will investigate any allegations; and
- where the policy is available.
How Are Your Employees Protected Under NZ Law?
Unless your employees disclose information with legal professional privilege, their disclosures have protection under the Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022. When investigating a case, you must keep the whistleblower’s identity confidential. Exceptions are if it is critical to:
- disclose the identity to conduct the investigation effectively; or
- prevent serious risk to public health or safety or the environment.
Failing to respect your employees’ rights may result in a legal dispute, as they have a right to:
- raise a personal grievance against you under the Employment Relations Act 2000; or
- bring an action under the Human Rights Act 1993.
Creating a Speak Up Culture in Your Workplace
To encourage disclosure in your workplace, it is critical to ensure that your employees:
- are aware of the whistleblowing policies and systems in your workplace;
- feel protected to disclose the wrongdoing; and
- are confident that you will take the necessary actions to eliminate it.
Creating a speak-up culture can help you deter wrongdoers and encourage prompt reporting and remedial actions. A whistleblowing program sends a strong message to your employees that they have your approval and support to combat wrongdoing in your workplace. A speak-up culture also encourages managers to listen to their team members and actively encourage them to raise any concerns.
Some best practices to help you create an effective whistleblowing program include:
- giving your program a positive name, such as “speak up” or “open talk”;
- referring to disclosures as cases instead of complaints; and
- encourage everyone (employees, contractors, secondees and volunteers) to raise their concerns.
Further, ensuring your employees understand the whistleblowing policies and systems is critical. You might want to complete training so employees know how to use your systems. You can also conduct surveys and informal discussions with your staff at middle and junior levels to gauge their awareness level about the integrity and compliance of the program and to identify any implementation issues.
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Key Takeaways
Whistleblowing laws in New Zealand offer certain protections to your employees when reporting serious wrongdoing in your organisation. Wrongdoing includes serious offences such as criminal activities, risks to health and safety, or misuse of funds. The whistleblower must act in good faith to receive the protections. For example, a personal work-related grievance is not protected under whistleblower protection laws.
Having a whistleblower program in place is only a requirement for public agencies in New Zealand. However, putting whistleblowing systems in place can have many benefits for your business, such as deterring wrongdoing and ensuring your employees report any instances of it at an early stage. It is also critical to ensure your employees understand the policies, which you can do by promoting a speak-up culture.
If you need help drafting a whistleblower policy, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers who can answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0800 005 570 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Whistleblowing refers to policies or programs you can set in your workplace to allow your employees to report serious wrongdoing to the right person in your organisation.
Implementing a whistleblowing policy has many benefits, including deterring wrongdoing in your workplace and providing an avenue for your employees to report any concerns. This can make your employees feel valued and reduce any stress caused by the knowledge of the wrongdoing. However, it also has some drawbacks, such as the breakdown of trust.
In New Zealand, whistleblower policies are only required for public sector agencies. However, you may suspect that there is a high risk of wrongdoing in your workplace. In that case, it may be beneficial to implement whistleblowing policies and procedures and ensure your employees know them.
Creating a speak-up culture can make your employees feel safe to speak up. When you put a whistleblowing program in place, you send them a strong message that they have your approval and support to combat wrongdoing in your workplace.
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