The federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws prohibit punishing job applicants or employees for asserting their rights to be free from employment discrimination, including harassment. Asserting these rights is called “protected activity,” and it can take many forms. For example, it is unlawful to retaliate against applicants or employees for: filing or being a witness…
I cannot say this enough to employers: Punishing an employee who participates in an EEOC charge will only multiple your problems. Michael Baldonado, EEOC San Francisco District Director Employer retaliation can lead to government fines, criminal charges, and employee lawsuits. Whistleblowing includes reporting unacceptable labor and employment practices to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A…
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has the power to enforce many whistleblower protection laws. This authority includes many laws, such as the Affordable Care Act, that might not seem to relate to the administration’s traditional role. The laws OSHA enforces contain whistleblower anti-retaliation provisions. These laws generally provide that employers may not discharge…
Managers may be the last to know about an ethics issue in the business. It is important to give employees a way to alert management to potential problems without fear of retaliation. When establishing a whistleblower policy, consider the following: Whistleblower Reports are a Gift While bad news is never enjoyable, it can stave off…
The following excerpt from Kristy Grant-Hart’s How to be a Wildly Effective Compliance Officer: Learn the Secrets of Influence, Motivation and Persuasion to Become an In-Demand Business Asset (Brentham House 2015) was written with compliance officers in mind. But her words are equally applicable to executives and managers who want to make ethics and law…
Q: What is a compliance program and does my business need one? A: A compliance program is made up of company policies and procedures intended to reduce the possibility of legal consequences, such as regulatory fines or lawsuits. Any simple step can be part of a compliance program. For instance, if the city requires paper recycling,…
Aaron Sackett, Associate Professor, Marketing, Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas Harvard University’s Project Implicit® uses online tests to reveal subconscious biases that we may not be aware of. These Implicit Association Tests (IATs) cover a wide range of possible social preferences. The project seeks to learn more about these biases by providing…
Kelly Richmond Pope, TEDxDePaulUniversity Whistleblowers change the course of events. In this TEDx video, fraud researcher and documentary filmmaker Kelly Richmond Pope explains why whistleblowers should be listened to and protected. This video is shared under a Creative Commons license (BY-NC-ND 4.0). Please visit Ted.com. This TED Talk was originally posted in April 2017.
Margaret Heffernan, TEDxDanubia A whistleblower may take substantial risks–professionally and personally–to reveal serious problems. But sometimes, managers and the public refuse to act on that information. Selective blindness can have drastic costs, as explained by author and former CEO Margaret Heffernan. This video is shared under a Creative Commons license (BY-NC-ND 4.0). Please visit Ted.com. This…
Q: How do I overcome public apathy to internet security, even after revelation after revelation about security failures? A: Step 1 is determining whether apathy is the problem. If the public doesn’t think cybersecurity is a big deal, then your objective is to educate them about the prevalence and consequences of online security breaches. This…
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