Ethics, conduct and integrity policies · 02
Whistleblowing and protected disclosures policy
Creates a route by which someone can report wrongdoing without paying for it.
Creates a route by which someone can report wrongdoing without paying for it.
Identify what may be disclosed and to whom; provide at least one channel that bypasses line management and one that bypasses the executive entirely; set out how the discloser’s identity is protected and what anonymity can and cannot be promised; record the protections against occupational detriment under the Protected Disclosures Act; state the investigation process, the timelines and the feedback the discloser will receive; and provide for false or malicious disclosure.
A policy that routes disclosures to line management defeats itself: the channel must bypass the people most likely to be the subject of a disclosure, which is a governance design question before it is a drafting one. Do not promise absolute anonymity you cannot deliver once an investigation or a court process begins; promise confidentiality, and describe its limits honestly. And remember the employer’s own duty under the Act to respond to a disclosure within the prescribed period; silence is itself a failure.
The law it sits under
What governs this instrument.
The Protected Disclosures Act 26 of 2000, as amended by Act 5 of 2017, protects a worker who makes a protected disclosure from occupational detriment. Section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 places a personal duty on a person in a position of authority to report specified corrupt activity of R100 000 or more to a police official. Section 159 of the Companies Act adds a further regime for public and state-owned companies.
Related pages, tools and documents
Where this instrument sits in the wider set, and the engagement that produces it.
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