Labor Issue: Avoiding Whistleblower Claims

For an employee, whistle-blowing or exposing a company’s unlawful acts or violations seems like an honorable thing to do. After all, a whistleblower is only exercising his right to refuse to partake in any illegal activity, while laying his job on the line. However, whistle-blowing can also have negative effects, both on the whistleblower and the company as a whole.

Obviously the company will be heavily scrutinized because of the employee’s expose. It may lose loyal and potential clients, as well as business partners, which may lead to its downfall. The employee, meanwhile, may experience unfair or unpleasant treatment from his co-employees or even to the employer himself. Such reaction from others can be considered as retaliation, which is unlawful under the labor law Los Angeles, as well as in other states.

Retaliation claims may also arise because of this, which can result to bigger problems for the company. To avoid both retaliation and whistleblower claims, it is important for the company to eliminate the underlying improper conduct that gives rise to retaliation against whistleblower status. 

1. Create a catch-all ethics policy for the company: The policy should state that the company will comply with the legal duties it has. The policy should also have a complaint reporting procedure to encourage employees into reporting any misconduct and to provide information regarding disciplinary consequences for employees who would not comply.
2. Even if the reporting procedure is included on the ethics policy, there still has to have a stand-alone complaint reporting procedure that will include reporting outlets at various levels.
3. All employees should be trained regarding the content of the policy, as well as the applicable employment laws about whistle-blowing and other statutes or regulations applicable to the company. Emphasize the legal duties of the employer and the consequences of not fulfilling those duties.
4. Have a special training for the management team. Train the supervisors and managers occasionally regarding employment laws and the ethics policy. Train them to recognize whistleblower activities and how they should respond to those activities.
5. Know how to respond to whistleblower complaints. Learn how to recognize, investigate, document the investigation, and remediate the complaint. Don’t forget to communicate with the complainant, to plan how to move forward with the complaint, and to follow the policy and laws of whistle-blowing and retaliation complaints.
6. Even the smallest complaint regarding retaliation should not be ignored. It should be investigated as soon as possible. If the complaint is directed to the employer, it should be investigated by someone else.

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