Within the last five years, the federal government has introduced unprecedented levels of protection for whistleblowers and greater incentives for them to come forward in the form of record amounts of financial compensation. This is because the government has recognized that people who serve in government jobs on local levels are truly the nation’s first line of defense against corruption.
This philosophy makes sense. In many situations, civil servants are the very first individuals who greet you when you are at a hospital, police station or local government office. They are the first line of customer service, in addition to an important part of making sure all government agencies function with efficiency and integrity at every level.
Of course, being a whistleblower is never an easy responsibility to take on. Even with the Whistleblower Protection Act of 2010, and with there being more protections than ever before for whistleblowers, we still occasionally hear stories about employer retaliation that do not exactly make employees more likely to come forward and report internal misconduct. Even the news media occasionally gets in on the action, scrutinizing the credibility of the whistleblower rather than focusing on the actual allegations.
Supporting whistleblowers internally
With this in mind, it’s important we continue to do everything we can to empower whistleblowers so they don’t have to be afraid about speaking up. Support whistleblowers when they come forward in your organization, and make it known that misconduct or wrongdoing will not be tolerated in any form.
If you require some support with an internal whistleblower investigation, call on the experienced Dallas legal team at Whistleblower Law for Managers right away.
