Reporting about your whistleblowing service
New EU rules on non-financial reporting should be transposed into national legislation by the end of 2016. According to the new rules companies with more than 500 employees should disclose in their annual management report relevant information on their policies, main risks and outcomes relating to at least environmental matters, social and employee aspects, respect for human rights, and anticorruption and bribery issues.
A corporate whistleblowing service is an efficient means to follow up on all the above mentioned areas. According to The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners tips are consistently the most common detection method for cases of occupational fraud by a significant margin. (42 %, compared to management reviews, 16% and internal audits, 14%). The fact that your corporate whistleblowing channel is used show that your efforts to foster high business ethical behaviour is recognized.
It is recommended to include the number of incidents (reports that have resulted in an investigation) in the annual management report. You can also consider to include information about how the whistleblowing service is managed, and the outcome by:
- Describing the reporting channel
- Data security
- Who is invited to report (employees, customers, suppliers)
- Describing the case management process
- According to whistleblowing guidelines
- Who is responsible for case management and investigation
- Describing the incidents
- Number of relevant reports
- Number of investigations
- Areas of investigations
