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• Agencies should create multiple channels for reporting, so that employees can
choose the reporting mechanism with which they are most comfortable. Outlets
could include the director of human resources, supervisors, an anonymous fraud,
waste, and abuse hotline, an office of Equity and Inclusion or the agency
leadership. Your written policy, trainings and posters should spell out the exact
ways of reaching those channels. Make it easy!
• An anonymous hotline is the most critical tool for protecting employees and
detecting illegal activities (and is required by SB 1559). Employers should work
to boost the hotline’s visibility so that all employees know about the resource. If
possible, the hotline should operate 24 hours a day. Allowing multiple uses of the
hotline — for instance, as a helpline or suggestion line — lowers the
psychological barriers to usage.
• Allow disclosures to be made in confidence via phone, postal mail, email, website
and in person with a designated employee. Include at least one way to disclose
information externally to the organization.
3) Anonymous whistleblowing will solicit more frequent high-quality disclosures.
• Agency policy should clearly identify which reporting avenues are anonymous
and which are not. Give specific directions for how to report anonymously. For
instance, a hotline can easily take anonymous disclosures, but visiting a
supervisor during office hours does not guarantee anonymity. Provide your
employees directions for how to write an anonymous letter or email. It is a good
practice to create an online form that allows employees to send anonymous
emails to the appropriate person.
• You should tell employees that even if reports are made anonymously,
sometimes it’s possible to know or guess who the complainant must be simply by
the nature of the allegations or investigation. State that you will try to keep a
complainant’s name anonymous or confidential, but you cannot guarantee that
no one will figure it out.
4) A transparent investigative process will instill confidence in whistleblowers
and help improve the public agency.
• It’s good practice to have a central investigative unit that handles all
whistleblower disclosures, regardless of how the organization received the
information. However, in many cases, this centralized approach will not be
possible since Oregon law has a very broad definition of whistleblowing. Because
of the expansive protections in the law, the specifics of an investigation will
depend on where an employer files a complaint, which office conducts the
investigation and the nature of the potential issue. Nonetheless, you should let
your employees know the general investigative process, including how long it will
typically take and what follow-up to expect. Tell your employees about the
investigation stages and what they entail, such as interviews, document review
and so on. Include information about who will lead the investigation and who to
come to with questions.