Report: Almost Half of Americans Witness Wrongdoing in Workplace and Most Plan to Blow the Whistle

According to the new 'WhistleBlower Security US Report' released last week, 41 per cent or 64 million working Americans are aware of wrongdoing committed at their place of work and of those, 78 per cent say they are likely to blow the whistle. The top three types of organizational wrongdoing witness by employees are discrimination (38 per cent), health and safety violations (38 per cent), and sexual harassment (36 per cent).

The March 2022 research findings were released by WhistleBlower Security Inc. at the 17th annual Compliance Week conference in Washington, D.C. WhistleBlower Security Inc. is a global provider of ethics reporting services and the research was conducted on the Angus Reid Forum with 1,012 employed Americans.

"It seems like Americans are done tolerating workplace wrongdoing with 92 per cent saying employees should speak up if they witness it," says Shannon Walker, Founder and President, WhistleBlower Security Inc. The 'WhistleBlower Security US Report' found employees are most likely to report wrongdoing if it affects their colleagues (93 per cent), followed by customers (90 per cent), the leadership team (88 per cent) and the environment (85 per cent).

"Following multiple high-profile whistleblowing events in business, sport and politics, American employees seem especially skeptical these days," adds Walker. "In the 'WhistleBlower Security US Report' we found that 89 per cent of American employees believe their employers use unethical or illegal practices that only employees know about and as such, almost all working Americans (94 per cent) say employers should put safeguards in place to protect employees. If they don't, a full third (32 per cent) believe the organization 'probably has something to hide'." As well, if a whistleblower hotline is not available to employees, nearly half (46 per cent) will make their concerns public by sharing them with friends/family (21 per cent), industry officials (14 per cent), lawyers (9 per cent), media (5 per cent), and social media (5 per cent).

The 'WhistleBlower Security US Report' also examined the beliefs of 18- to 34-year-old employees and according to Walker, they "see more, fear more and tell more" as compared to their older colleagues. The younger set sees more wrongdoing, especially when working from home during Covid, has greater fears of retaliation if they blow the whistle and on average tells twice as many people about their workplace concerns and are three times more likely to share them on social media.