Whistleblowing

[4F]

I have found out something about our UK manager which I know that our overseas directors don't know about but would not be happy about if they did. It is to deal with serious overspending on personal items for himself where as a company we have been told to do whatever we can to keep costs down in the current climate. This manager is currently thought of very highly by our directors but they clearly do not what is really going on.

I feel as though this must be bought to their attention however I am seriously worried about the consequences to myself if this person was to stay on afterwards as he is a vindictive bastard. I know for a fact that he is planning to make big changes to our office which will probably mean 50 percent redundancies however I don't want to put my head above the surface as I should be OK in these changes.

I get on really well with 1 of our directors however really worried about it coming back that it was me who whistleblowed if I approach this director directly.

So do I open a neutral e mail account and e mail the directors directly or do I approach the director I get on well with and hope for the best ?

 

[marinyork]

If the changes were to go through and unpredictably against you, do you think that you could use the disclosure to your advantage of not being laid off? I'd e-mail the directors with the evidence.

 

[4F]

If the changes were to go through and unpredictably against you, do you think that you could use the disclosure to your advantage of not being laid off? I'd e-mail the directors with the evidence.

Probably buy then they would probably want to know why I had not told them of my findings before but only when my back is against the wall. I am leaning towards the e mail option however at the same time it could be beneficial to me in the long term if they knew it was me.

 

[spandex]

If it is unjustifiable spending you have to tell them.

 

[marinyork]

Can you draft a copy to all minus 1 of the directors and send a copy to the HR department at the same time?

 

[Willow]

Does the company have a formal whistle blowing policy?

 

[4F]

Does the company have a formal whistle blowing policy?

Not that I am aware of and it I don't really want to ask if there is one as that would seem to point the finger

 

[Chuffy]

This chap's naughtiness - does it have real and serious consequences for the company or is it just one bloke taking the piss?

If there are actual consequences then the other directors will probably want to know. If it's just him being a bit cheeky then chances are they either won't be interested or will give him a slap on the wrists.

If I was in your position and he was doing stuff that could have an adverse effect on the company then if I was going to do anything I'd probably be inclined put the evidence in front of the other directors anonymously. Bear in mind that you will have to give them very good and robust evidence and you might want to think of whether that can be traced back to you. Are you the only person who has access to the relevant files, for example? Ideally you want it to be plausible that the other directors could have found out about this themselves. An anonymous tip-off will be less likely to be taken seriously so you'd better be damn sure of the proof.

I would be very wary of trusting someone at director level. IMHO the bastards are as thick as thieves and unlikely to take action against one of their own unless there were very, very good reasons. But only you know your company setup, so you'll just have to make that judgement yourself.

Silly question, but are you in a union? I'm guessing not...

Good luck.

 

[spandex]

If you are going to tell do it by Email and if they wish to get in touch you will have a plank Email account that can not be traced by them.

 

[Chuffy]

PS - gather as much evidence as you can, regardless of what you decide to do. And if you get the push, do the bastard good and proper....

 

[jay clock]

grass him up. If you do, I would not use your work pc, as IT can almost certainly see who logged on to hotmail etc at given time. If really nervous, I would do the whole thing from an internet caff at the weekend. Ideally not the nearest one to your house...

 

[4F]

Thanks Chuffy, no no union and I take on board your comments about the directors especially as the boss concerned comes from the same country as them.

 

[4F]

grass him up. If you do, I would not use your work pc, as IT can almost certainly see who logged on to hotmail etc at given time. If really nervous, I would do the whole thing from an internet caff at the weekend. Ideally not the nearest one to your house...

Yep fair point

 

[marinyork]

14k of company money at various times is sanction time surely? I don't see how any sane or unbent director couldn't take it seriously.

 

[Chuffy]

He sounds lovely....

Just one question. What makes you think the other directors don't do similar? Just a thought and not a nice one either.

And how do you know all this?