Who protects the complaints officer?

The information in the WB must be treated confidentially and breaches of this are sanctioned by the EU Whistleblow Directive.

A potential conflict may arise when a WB case handler must refuse to show the report or disclose the identity of a Whistleblower to the manager. Refusal to believe is a very human reaction to surprising new information of misconduct, especially if it is big and the subject of complaints is close to the manager. “Who told you this, show me the report”, is a demand that all complaints handlers are likely to face.

The Whistleblower is protected by the law, but case handlers may find themselves in a difficult situation and afraid of becoming considered the difficult one. Therefore, strict provisions must be in place to protect the case handler, including clearly defined and communicated authorities, processes, and informed consent from a person accepting the position. – It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

Outsourcing the case handling to a professional service provider secures correct and efficient WB procedures and secures against breaches of confidentiality, especially for organizations that are new to whistleblowing channels.

Experienced case handlers can effectively analyze if an investigation is needed, and resources are not lost on unnecessary investigations. Misconducts are time critical and by having an immediate proposal of action, the total loss is reduced.  Further, procedural faults risk is mitigated, and so is the fear of becoming the difficult one within the workplace.