Introduction
Parliament of Ghana passed the Whistleblower Act (Act 720) in 2006 as an important anti- corruption policy to prevent unlawful conducts that may negatively affect our development. The law is based on the idea that if ordinary citizens are empowered to disclose, without fear of victimization, the corrupt and other unlawful acts of other persons, millions of Ghana Cedis will be saved every year, respect for decent behavior and integrity will increase, the quality of public service will improve, and Ghana will see speedy development (refer to GACC Booklet on the Whistleblower Law). One Love Sisters (OLS), a Ghanaian NGO believes in the tenets, content of the Whistleblower Law, and therefore, is committed to upholding it. In order for stakeholders of OLS to have confidence in our honesty, integrity and respect for the law, this Whistleblower Policy and Procedures Document is developed to provide a supportive process that encourages and enables employees/workers/volunteers and clients of OLS to raise concerns about misconduct within the organization without any repercussions and to give them confidence that their concerns will be properly investigated and resolved in a timely manner.
Understanding Of Whistleblowing
Whistleblowing is the disclosure of information, which relates to suspected serious wrongdoing, misconduct, fraud, illegal acts, abuse of people or resources or dangers relating to the running of an organization or to work-related activities of staff/employees/clients and all stakeholders. This may include, but is not limited to, information relating to the following:
- A criminal offence has been, is being or is likely to be committed;
- A person has failed, is failing, or is likely to have failed to comply with a legal or
regulatory obligation or to instrument of governance to which they are subject;
- A miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur;
- The health and safety of an individual has been, is being, or is likely to be
endangered;
- The environment has been, is being or is likely to be damaged;
- Fraud, Corruption, Bribery or Blackmail has been committed or likely to be
committed;
- Administrative malpractice (financial, such as improprieties in matters of
financial reporting or non-financial);
- Improper conduct or unethical behavior;
- Bullying, Harassment, Discrimination, or victimization in the work place;
- Unauthorized disclosure of confidential information;
- Suppression or concealment of any of the above matters;
A Whistleblower is therefore a person who raises a genuine and serious concern in good faith relating to any of the above. It is important to note that the Whistleblower may or may not be directly affected by the matter.
Policy Statement
At One Love Sisters (OLS), we believe our employees/staff have the right to report, without suffering retaliation, any activity by OLS or any of our staff that the employee reasonably believes violates any state law, noncompliance with a state rule or regulation or violates fiduciary responsibilities by our organization. In addition, employees can refuse to participate in an activity that would result in a violation of any state regulation. By this policy and procedure document on Whistleblowing, we are also committed to protecting our employees from retaliation for having exercised any of these rights in any former employment. However, our whistleblower policy does not entitle employees to violate a confidential privilege of One Love Sisters or improperly disclosure of any organizational/business-secret information.
Policy Scope
One Love Sisters is committed to encouraging all staff and other stakeholders with serious concerns about any aspect of our work to come forward and express their concerns. In many cases, concerns or complaints will be dealt with speedily through the appropriate laid-down procedures mentioned below in section 9.0 (whistleblower investigation process: how to prepare for an internal investigation).
Policy Objectives/Purpose
To encourage our staff to report suspected serious wrongdoing as soon as possible in the knowledge that their concerns will be taken seriously and investigated appropriately;
- To provide staff with guidance as to how to raise those concerns;
- To provide a transparent and confidential process for dealing with complaints;
- To ensure individuals are aware that they are able to raise genuine concerns in good
faith without fear of reprisal; even if they turn out to be mistaken;
- To promote and develop a culture of accountability, integrity and transparency in OLS.
- To establish zero tolerance approach to dishonest behavior, malpractice and
misconduct including fraud, bribery and corruption using this policy
Importance Of Whistleblower Policy For Ols
Below are some few benefits/importance that One Love Sisters intends to derive from the effective implementation of our WhistleblowerPolicy:
a) Foremost, whistleblowing is important for businesses and organizations like One Love
Sisters because it is a regulatory requirement under our laws and we have a legal obligation to develop and implement whistleblower policy and to protect whistleblowers when they raise a report of fraud, corruption, or other misconducts.
b) It keeps a check on misconduct. Even without the regulatory imperative, a strong culture
of internal reporting and whistleblower protection just makes good business sense. Having a whistleblower policy makes all our stakeholders aware of the misconduct and the fear of being exposed if they perform an act of wrongdoing because they know that whistleblower would not face any threats due to anonymity. Therefore, reporting misconduct would be efficient.
c) Quick Reporting and Resolution: In complex or bigger organizations, monitoring all the
departments and offices around the globe is not always possible. Therefore, acts of misconduct might go unreported if the supervisor only must observe them. The policy helps share such responsibility, and whoever finds out about such transgression can report it as soon as it comes to their notice. Therefore, one can resolve it quickly.
d) Fundamentally, organizations/businesses have an ethical obligation to protect and
support the employees working for them. That includes protecting our employees who raise alarms about possible misconduct they see in One Love Sisters or other organizations we do business with.
e) Whistleblower policy protects organizations/companies. Most employees want to speak
up about potential trouble they see and their employers and management should embrace that impulse. That is far better than the alternative, where employees could not care to tell you what is going wrong at the organization. A strong culture of whistleblowing helps to identify all manner of potential threats, including some threats, such as cybersecurity risks, money laundering that might not necessarily involve employee misconduct at all. One Love Sisters believes strong that Whistleblower policy implementation minimizes risks and costs. Misconduct that continues for a long time will ultimately be more expensive to resolve. That is true whether the misconduct is a criminal, legal violation (say, bribing government officials), workplace harassment that might lead to civil lawsuits, or innocent errors that leave the organization exposed to risk (poor cybersecurity defenses). When whistleblowers feel confident in speaking up, they are
helping our organization to save money over the long term.
f) It prevents wrongdoing. When employees who want to commit misconduct know that,
other employees will call them out and that management will then investigate the allegation, those first employees are less likely to try whatever wrongdoing they have in mind.
g) Effective Whistleblower policy implementation provides more detailed insight into
issues. It is quite possible that management already knows it has some sort of problem in the organization, but not an exact understanding of what is wrong. Internal reports can provide the crucial evidence or examples that management needs to piece together the precise picture, and then develop the appropriate response.
h) For One Love Sisters, this policy should drive better communications and trust. Research
has shown that organizations with strong culture of internal reporting and getting more internal reports than their peers, achieve better organizational outcomes generally: fewer lawsuits, smaller settlements when litigation does happen, more efficient operations and even fewer negative headlines in the press. It not therefore, surprising when organizations that get many internal reports are organizations where employees feel comfortable talking about problems, and getting those problems resolved. Over the long term, that organization will inevitably gain a strategic edge over rivals that are not good at addressing internal problems i)
Commitment To The Policy
One Love Sisters (OLS) is committed to preventing and combating corrupt, fraudulent, collusive or coercive practices in all aspects of work. We promote and adhere to the highest standards of transparency and accountability in the use of funds (being it private or public funds). OLS takes a zero-tolerance position on all cases of fraud and corruption, pursuing all allegations. We are also committed to meeting the highest ethical standards in our practices and operations and to ensuring environmental sustainability, employee safety and freedom from discrimination. When allegations are reported and substantiated, One Love Sisters shall take appropriate measures as outlined in this Whistleblower policy and procedures document. Anyone can make a whistleblowing report, either openly or anonymously. OLS takes all possible actions to protect from reprisal the individuals who helps to reveal corrupt or wrong practices in our activities and operations and the individuals or entities who are subject to unfair or malicious allegations. This applies to recipients and users of OLS funding, including people, clients, partners and consultants, as well as our officers, employees and agents who are bidding, applying for or participating in our activities, projects or programs. OLS encourages everyone to communicate their concerns in good faith and without fear of retaliation and in the knowledge that they will be protected from victimization and dismissal. This protection also applies to people who cooperate with an audit or investigation.
Agreement To Comply With This Policy
This Whistleblower Policy of One Love Sisters is fully supported by our Advisory Board and Senior Management and has been agreed with all staff/employees for the purpose of implementation and compliance. All staff/employees including members of the Advisory Board are made to sign-off this policy document.
Whistleblower Investigation Process
(HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN INTERNAL
Investigation)
For One Love Sisters (OLS), it is not enough to just put in place a Whistleblower Policy. But the question is how do you deal with incoming reports or complaints? OLS recognizes the fact that a robust systematic process should exist to ensure that any report or complaint by a whistleblower is thoroughly investigated and necessary remedial actions are taken to address the identified issue(s). Below are four most important steps in the internal investigation of a whistleblowing case: Step 1: Validate and authenticate the whistleblower report/complaint: First and foremost, One Love Sisters would assess complaints that are being made to establish the fact that such complaints warrant investigation. Complaints that are not compliance-relevant or are even denunciatory do not require an investigation. Nevertheless, it is important for OLS to provide feedback to the whistleblower and, where appropriate, take action if an abusive report has been made that is clearly in breach of internal policies. Step 2: Establish contact the the Whistleblower: The next thing for OLS to do is to initiate communication with the whistleblower as soon as possible. We believe that if the whistleblowing complaint is not responded to within seven working days, OLS risks its staff/workers losing confidence in our whistleblower policy and our credibility is being damaged. A whistleblower feedback form will be developed so that we can react to reports quickly. If a report does not contain sufficient grounds to suspect actual misconduct, the whistleblower will be asked to provide more detailed information on the incident in question. Digital whistleblowing systems allow whistleblower communication by means of integrated mailbox functions. All relevant documents and investigation results should be saved in the secured Case Management area of our whistleblowing system. Step 3: Get to the bottom of things: Internal investigations should be initiated promptly if there is sufficient evidence to indicate that a compliance violation has occurred. The bulk of the
investigation generally consists of the evaluation of documents (including evidence received from the whistleblower), as well as interviews with employees and potential further discussions with the whistleblower. When doing this, make sure to comply with labor law, confidentiality and data protection requirements. Ideally, all relevant documents and investigation results should be saved in the secure Case Management area of our whistleblowing system. Step 4: Take corrective measures: After the completion of any investigation, OLS will summarize the outcome of the investigation for management, including any corrective measures that have been taken or are planned to be taken. Sanctions and other processes would be transparently communicated within the organization. At the end of the investigation, OLS will officially close the Case and anonymize any collected personal data, if necessary. For reporting and archiving purposes, all cases would remain within the whistleblower system. To sum things up, One Love Sisters considers the above steps as a well-structured system that allows for effective and transparent process of addressing whistleblower cases in a timely manner.
General Definitions
For a deeper understanding and effective implementation of the Whistleblower Policy, it is important that all One Love Sisters staff and Advisory Board members have basic knowledge of the following terminologies associated our whistleblower policy: Whistleblower Policy: A whistleblower policy is a set of rules and guidelines for an organizations stakeholder, be it the employees, volunteers, board members, clients, or any other person, to comply with when they see something illegal or unethical happening within the organization intentionally or unintentionally and, such acts are not in the public interest or undermine the interest of the stakeholders. A Whistleblower: A Whistleblower is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unethical, unsafe or fraudulent. Whistleblowers can use a variety of internal or external channels to communicate information or allegations. Whistleblower Retaliation: Whistleblower Retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse job action against an employee for engaging in a protected activity. Reporting an organization for violating safety laws, abusing authority, engaging in fraud against the government and other illegal conduct is protected. It is a real risk for whistleblowers, who often pay a heavy price for blowing the whistle. The most common form of retaliation is abrupt termination of employment. However, several other actions may also be considered retaliatory, including extreme increases in workloads, having hours cut drastically.