Whistleblower Policy: The Most Common Whistleblowing Issues; and How Companies Avoid Misreporting.

In one-third of all German companies, grievances were reported in 2020. In Germany, grievances were reported in 37 percent of companies, in the United Kingdom in 36 percent and in France and Switzerland in 33 percent each, according to a study by the Graubünden University of Applied Sciences (Whistleblower Report). Whistleblowing is therefore not uncommon.

Not all reports are relevant

No system is perfect, and neither are the users. Whistleblower systems are often misappropriated and misused as a grievance box. Instead of reporting actual grievances - i.e., legally, and ethically wrong behaviour - employees and even external ones often report complaints or use the system to leave a negative review. This is not really what it was designed for.

In German companies, the proportion of relevant and substantive reports is just under 44 percent. This means that less than half of the reports received are relevant to compliance. That's still quite a lot, but it also shows that companies need to filter the reports accordingly.

The best way to do this is with a digital system in which the reports are clearly listed and easily forwarded to the relevant area experts for review. In comparison, reports and checks via e-mail or telephone are much more time-consuming.

In addition, companies and government agencies are well advised to conduct training when introducing a whistleblower system to ensure proper use of the system.

Abusive reporting

Whistleblower systems were not introduced in many companies and government agencies until 2020. Fears that whistleblowing systems would be abused on a large scale are not borne out by the data. The share of abusive reports in the total number of reports is at a similar level as in 2019.

Moreover, the proportion of abusive reports at companies with anonymous whistleblower systems is no higher than at those without such systems.

In addition, hotlines also receive reports that are neither compliance-relevant nor abusive, such as tips about technical problems. Companies can easily forward these reports to the relevant office using a digital whistleblowing system and thus derive an additional benefit from the whistleblowing system.

The most common grievances

More than half of the reports received relate to either HR, accounting, or the company's business integrity. See chart.

Compliance-related whistleblowing most often relates to business integrity issues, especially among SMEs. These include, for example, grievances such as bribery, corruption, product safety or antitrust violations.

In second place are reports in human resources, for example concerning interpersonal dealings or the unlawful discrimination of employees. Bullying, discrimination and harassment are frequent reports.

In addition, reports are frequently received that concern the company's accounting, auditing, or financial reporting. These include, for example, financial misconduct such as money laundering or the falsification of financial documents.