Whistle Blower Policy

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COURSE: LEGAL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS

ASSIGNMENT: WHISTLE BLOWER POLICY

SUBMITTED BY: SACHIN DHARWATKAR

                                ROLL NO. 2017EPGP036

FOREWORD

First and foremost, I am thankful to Dr. I. Sridhar who was instrumental in teaching and providing knowledge and the learning, which has lead to the development of my mind-set in writing this report. The ideas have been shaped by many factors; my learning, a blend of our working experience and other cognitive thoughts, various discussions and debates. This has supplemented my knowledge gaining process and formed a holistic view by adding new dimensions to my understanding of the course contents. There is difficulty in assigning a hierarchy since it has been a true learning experience.

As I begin to reflect on the magnitude of the project, I am reminded of those who supported me in many ways. Helpful comments by friends and batch-mates set a competitive environment, an atmosphere of learning, and a culture of true professional behavior, which helped me complete this assignment. It will be  too early to assume that many concepts of Legal Aspects of Business are understood in their entirety and there remains more learning, practice and application, which are of utmost importance.

The report is broadly classified in seven (7) chapters;

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 2 – CONCEPTUAL DISCUSSION (BASIC CONCEPTS)

CHAPTER 3 – IMPLEMENTATION OF EXISTING SYSTEM

CHAPTER 4 – ALTERNATE SYSTEMS PREVAILING IN OTHER COUNTRIES

CHAPTER 5 – DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

CHAPTER 6 – CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 7 – BIBLIOGRAPHY

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

To frame a whistle blowing policy in organization is vital for all organizations. All organizations, whether public, private, or non-profit (including governmental) should, as a best practice, adopt a robust whistle-blower policy to induce its employees to internally report illegal or risky activity directly to competent authorities.

Whistle-blowing is a topic of ongoing ethical debate. Leading arguments in the ideological camp that whistle-blowing is ethical, maintain that whistle-blowing is a form of civil disobedience, and aims to protect the public from government wrongdoing. In the opposite camp, some see whistle-blowing as unethical for breaching confidentiality, especially in industries that handle sensitive client or patient information. Legal protection can also be granted to protect whistle-blowers, but that protection is subject to many stipulations. Hundreds of laws grant protection to whistle-blowers, but stipulations can easily cloud that protection and leave whistle-blowers vulnerable to retaliation and legal trouble. However, the decision and action has become far more complicated with recent advancements in technology and communication. Whistle-blowers frequently face reprisal, sometimes at the hands of the organization or group they have accused, sometimes from related organizations, and sometimes under law.

The present times are in need of standards of corporate governance more than ever as the Law appears short of doctrines, institutions, and regulatory techniques that adequately control corporate entities. It has now become imperative to design and implement a dynamic mechanism of corporate governance, which protects the interests of relevant stakeholders without hindering the growth of enterprises because the corporate veil frequently deflects the penetration of legal values into and, indeed, the imposition of legal sanctions upon the corporate entity. Adversarially trained lawyers often facilitate avoidance and evasion of corporate liability through ‘creative compliance' with legal requirements. A commonly proffered solution to the problem of ensuring that legal values permeate the internal workings of the corporation is to require large institutions to regulate themselves in a way that is responsive to social concerns.

The advantages of a Whistle-blower Policy

There's no denying that whistle-blowing — and a culture which promotes whistle-blowing — can be extremely beneficial to the organization, its employees, shareholders and society and the general public at large. Violations, misconduct and malpractices which would cost stakeholders dearly can be mitigated and the transgressors duly punished. Says Kumar Bimal, vice president, Marketing, Sonalika Group, "An organization that is known to be free from corrupt practices tends to attract the right talent. Employees, whose integrity and dedication towards the organization is impeccable, work as watchdogs of the company's values. Such individuals can assume the role of whistle-blowers in case they suspect or sense any kind of wrongdoing within the organization. Whistle-blowing is an important aspect that has the inherent power to mitigate a crisis-like situation. The whistle-blower's revelation needs to be handled correctly and promptly for sustained value creation in the organization."

Internationally, corporate whistle-blowing is rather common, bolstered by several high profile cases such as the Enron scandal. However, in India, incidents of whistle-blowing are few and far between.

Initiatives of whistle blowing in Indian private sector corporations are:

1. Wipro has adopted an Ombuds process policy wherein it has established procedures for receiving, retaining and treating complaints received, and procedures for the confidential and anonymous submission by employees of complaints regarding possible violations of the code of conduct and ethics. Under this policy, Wipro employees are encouraged to report questionable accounting matters, any reporting of fraudulent financial or other information to the stakeholders, any conduct that results in violation of the company's code of business conduct and ethics, to management (on an anonymous basis, if employees so desire). Likewise, under this policy, the company has prohibited discrimination, retaliation or harassment of any kind against any employees who, based on the employee's reasonable belief that such conduct or practice have occurred or are occurring, reports that information or participates in the investigation.