With cases like Enron* and questions about internal security measures at airports, people have been wondering why more employees do not speak up about problems in their workplace. Laws such as the Whistleblower Protection Act are in place to protect employees who raise valid concerns. However, as the Enron situation shows, retaliation against employees still occurs. Current legislation does not provide measures for remedial action by employees for retaliation. However, a current trend in legislation is changing this. New York State has enacted protection from retaliation for whistleblowers in the healthcare industry. Furthermore, representatives from the states of New York and Maryland and senator from Iowa are proposing an amendment to the Whistleblowers Protection Act to provide more protection.
Even though the law is providing increasing protections from retaliation, employers can prevent the need for whistleblowing by opening communications from the get go. A great risk management strategy is to communicate with employees from the moment expectations, policies and procedures are communicated. Keeping employees in the loop and encouraging the use of your organization’s alternative dispute resolution policy can raise issues and get them resolved, minimizing the need for the whistle to be blown.
*2/19/03--Sherron Watkins, the Enron whistleblower, was named as one of three "Persons of the Year" for 2002 by Time Magazine. The Worldcom whistleblower as well as the FBI's whistleblower, Cynthia Cooper and Coleen Rowley, respectively, were the other two individuals honored by the magazine. This illustrates the shift from whistleblowers being fired to them being honored.
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