Below is a simple five-step guide for those who want to know how whistleblowing works. Think of it as an overall orientation on what is expected of you.
Think through what happened and how you know it. Describe it briefly and stick to the core of the misconduct.
Summarize what describes what you witnessed. Leave out personal opinions and speculation.
Keep the following in mind:
What are the facts?
Who is involved?
When did it happen?
Where did it happen?
Based on the above, what constitutes a violation of a law, rule, or regulation, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety?
It is entirely possible that there is a reasonable explanation for what you witnessed and that you may not have authorization or access to all relevant information or facts. However, you should still report a suspicion if you have a reasonable belief that wrongdoing has occurred. You should not conduct your own investigation to gather facts.
Instead, report to an appropriate recipient—primarily your immediate manager or that manager’s superior. Your organization or its owner. Read up on how the organization you work for handles reporting wrongdoing. This is described in the organization’s Code of Conduct Policy.
While managers and supervisors can, in most cases, be expected to want to protect a discloser’s wish for anonymity, this cannot be guaranteed. If you want to be completely anonymous, you can instead choose to report to an external whistleblowing function.
Include contact information for potential witnesses and attach or indicate where any evidence (for example in paper form or electronically) can be found.
