Whistleblowing - reporting trends
We’ve looked into the whistleblowing and reporting policies and procedures of major companies across UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific. You can review the data here and see the current trends. Click on the map icons.
We’ve looked into the whistleblowing and reporting policies and procedures of major companies across UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific. You can review the data here and see the current trends. Click on the map icons.
We looked at the visibility of policies and procedures across APAC-listed companies. Our 2018 research found that 82% of companies publicly refer to having a reporting channel. Of that 82%, a high proportion – 76% – make the policy publicly available. See our analysis here.
We looked at the visibility of policies and procedures across Europe’s top companies. In 2018, 91% of top European companies publicly refer to having a reporting channel for concerns, compared to 79% back in 2014. Of the 91% of companies that publicly reference a reporting channel in 2018, only 50% make the policy publicly available. See our analysis here.
We looked at the visibility of policies and procedures across the UK’s FTSE 100 companies. “Speak up” arrangements are becoming the new norm. We compared our results from 2014 and found 71% of FTSE100 companies made reference to having some form of reporting channel, but in late 2018 this has risen to all of the FTSE100 companies. We can identify some trends eg. it’s typical for reporting arrangements in 2018 to offer a range of methods of escalating concerns with an externally managed independent dedicated phoneline being the most frequently referred to method. See our analysis here.
See our interactive guides to whistleblowing/reporting
What are the UK reforms?
What are the European laws?
Find out more about the Asia Whistleblowing laws
Whistleblowing checklist in the financial services sector
Information about the managing Whistleblowing at work
A guide setting out training and obligations for whistleblowing champions
Three draft bills making progress through parliament, each proposing a range of far reaching changes to the way whistleblowers are protected in the UK.
Our interactive infographic sets out an overview of laws and regulations in key jurisdictions across Europe.
Our interactive infographic sets out an overview of laws and regulations in key jurisdictions across Asia.
Specific whistleblowing rules apply to financial services firms.
Practical tips for employers to manage whistleblowing at work.
Linklaters Employment and Incentives team offers training and seminars focussed to your needs. These can be short bite-size updates, stand-alone presentations or longer interactive seminars with a more in-depth look at whistleblowing/reporting.
See our range of training materials.
Would you know when someone was raising a concern that might lead to them becoming a whistleblower?
Would you know what to do?
Do you know what the impact on your business might be if you do not act?
With whistleblowing cases regularly making the news headlines, there is increasing recognition that whistleblowing provisions play a vital role in risk management within all organisations, regardless of industry sector or size.
Would you know how to conduct an investigation virtually and holding hearings via video on a virtual basis and without witnesses?
How to ensure employees have a right to a fair hearing – how is this impacted by the new environment (e.g. for those not used to virtual meetings) and what are the challenges to managing these processes with many employees still working from home? Is the traditional approach still appropriate?
How to adapt your Whistleblowing reporting lines/and whistleblowing policies?
7 February 2022
Whistleblowing continues to be a hot topic that attracts the attention of boards and senior management. We are pleased to have written about the UK perspective on whistleblowing in the new edition of “The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations”.
24 January 2022
The end of 2021 marked the twenty-year anniversary of the Enron scandal. Since then, and in the wake of the 2008/2009 financial crisis, regulatory and corporate governance expectations have evolved along with attitudes towards corporate culture, businesses have acknowledged the value of diversity of thought and the importance of psychological safety, and the rise of social media has helped workplace activism to become a defining feature of the workplace. With all these developments, could Enron still happen in today’s world?
2 September 2021
Workplace activism isn’t a new concept, but one which has been amplified in recent times by social movements and the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is increasingly becoming a defining feature of the workplace. With a heightened awareness of workplace rights, along with changes in technologies, social media and workplace communication channels, employees can become activists within their workplaces very quickly.
17 May 2021
In this podcast Dispute Resolution partner Gavin Lewis and Financial Regulation counsel Sara Cody examine the approach of global financial regulators to non-financial misconduct and whistleblowing. We look at some of the reasons why some regulators have begun to focus on non-financial misconduct as part of their assessment of individuals' suitability, and the increasing importance of effective whistleblowing programs.
7 December 2020
Jillian Naylor and Simon Kerr-Davis from our Employment & Incentives team have recorded a short podcast aimed at board members and other senior stakeholders who have responsibility and/or oversight for whistleblowing in their organisation. Our “Need to Know” podcast provides a whistle stop round-up on what whistleblowing arrangements are, what your role might involve when championing speaking up in your organisation and how you can ensure effectiveness. And, as we near the end of 2020, we also discuss what developments and trends we have seen in 2020 and talk about what the future might hold in this area.
19 November 2020
Campaigners are calling for urgent and wide-ranging whistleblowing reform. We take a close look at the three draft bills currently going through Parliament.
8 June 2020
As many companies focus on planning the first steps back to their workplaces after lockdown, now is the time to dust off and review whistleblowing arrangements to ensure they are fit for purpose.
6 February 2020
Linklaters’ Employment and Incentives, Financial Regulation and Dispute Resolution teams recently contributed to GIR.
17 December 2019
Earlier this year, we published the results of our research into the whistleblowing arrangements in place at publicly listed companies in the UK, across Europe and in Asia-Pacific. Following that research, we spoke to our colleagues around the world to get their views on whistleblowing trends in their jurisdictions.
10 December 2019
The EU Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law – the whistleblowing directive – was published in the Official Journal of the EU in November and will come into force on 16 December 2019. Member states must then pass legislation by 17 December 2021 to implement its provisions into their own jurisdictions.
4 December 2019
Continuing our vlog series focussing on effective whistleblowing arrangements, we focus on what it means to have a healthy culture, why it is important, and how to establish a healthy culture.
14 August 2019
Continuing our vlog series focussing on effective whistleblowing arrangements, I met with Jo Wren, Principal Regional Liaison Adviser of the General Medical Council (GMC).
5 June 2019
I commented in an earlier blog post about “speak up” arrangements becoming the new norm - at least in large UK organisations. We are seeing corporate attitudes to speak up arrangements evolve from such procedures being narrowly viewed as a legal and compliance matter to becoming integral to a “good” workplace culture.
4 April 2019
Continuing our series of blogs focussing on effective whistleblowing arrangements.
28 February 2019
In this blog post Jillian Naylor looks at the increased visibility of “speaking up” arrangements in listed European and APAC companies.
