CPD – Whistleblowing courses

Whistleblowing is increasingly recognised as an essential tool for organisations, as it enables them to protect their employees and demonstrate an effort for continuous improvement. This CPD article will provide a brief overview of what whistleblowing is, whether whistleblowing is the right thing to do and what the benefits of undertaking a whistleblowing course are.

What is whistleblowing?

Workplace whistleblowing occurs when an individual reports wrongdoing in an organisation, such as financial misconduct or discrimination. A whistleblower is often an employee but can also be a third-party such as a supplier or customer. Wrongdoings can sometimes be illegal or may cause danger to others. Examples of wrongdoings that cause an employee to whistleblow are criminal offences such as fraud, damaging of the environment, theft, and the miscarriage of justice or even concealing the act of any realised wrongdoing.

Why is whistleblowing important in an organisation?

Whistleblowing provides benefits to organisations and society by exposing illegal or dangerous practices. Whistleblowing offers the opportunity for internal resolution of sensitive issues, and can be vital in determining what is happening in your company, identifying misconduct and improving risk management.

Organisations have an obligation to support and protect their employees and customers when they know of any wrongdoing in the workplace. Whistleblowing also protects the company itself as promoting whistleblowing helps to locate and shine light on any potential threats that could have a negative impact on the organisation i.e. bad reputation affecting an organisations performance.

What is a whistleblower policy?

A whistleblowing policy is a set of principles about the reporting of wrongdoing within an organisation. It is used to inform procedure of employees on how they should blow the whistle as well as how they will find an outcome. Although a whistleblower policy is not required by law, the existence of one demonstrates an organisations commitment to listening the concerns of their employees. The policy helps ensure that employees can raise concerns without fear of victimisation, discrimination or dismissal.

An example of a whistleblower policy and principles include:

• Employees are encouraged to speak up and raise any concerns they may have about wrongdoing as soon as they notice it.
• Employees raising a concern will be given protection.
• Employees raising a concern will be listened to and treated with respect.
• All concerns will be handled responsibly, professionally and in a positive manner.
• Help and support will be provided to employees where concerns are raised under this policy.
• Managers will be supported in dealing appropriately with concerns which are raised with them.

In a large organisation managers may put in place policy so that employees are able to contact their line managers as soon as they have a concern and are able to guide them on correct procedure. This may differ in a smaller organisation as they may have inadequate structure to facilitate employees going to their managers.

Is whistleblowing the right thing to do?

Whistleblowing is often morally seen as the right thing to do. Generally people have a moral obligation to prevent serious harm to others if they can do so with little cost to themselves, for example, if someone’s health is in danger or someone is being defrauded it will can definitely be seen as the right thing to do by disclosing to a manager about someone’s wrongdoings. When whistleblowing does occur the law protects the individual from unfair treatment or retribution. Authorities must handle all reports of whistleblowing with confidentiality and sensitivity.

Benefits of whistleblowing can include:

• It creates an open workplace culture.
• Prevents issues from escalating.
• Avoids organisational reputational damage either internally or externally.
• Everyone can access support if needed.
• Useful reports of misconduct.

What are whistleblowing CPD courses?

Providing employees with the right tools and information when it comes to whistleblowing is essential for an employer to demonstrate that they are equipping their staff to deal with any cause for concerns. Whistleblowing CPD courses can cover a range of subjects from recent and upcoming changes in legislation, how to practically measure the effectiveness of your whistleblowing programme to identifying key risk areas.

The CPD Courses Catalogue contains numerous CPD certified whistleblower courses to help employees on the correct procedures to follow and a number of other topics. All the courses shown on our website have been recognised as meeting the required high quality standards, and are suitable for any Continuing Professional Development requirements. To find out more about a particular CPD course listed on our website, you can complete an enquiry form and the details will be sent directly to the relevant CPD provider.

How to become a CPD accredited training provider

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.