hat staff are able to by-pass the line of their superiors since at times that might be the area where the problem arises and hence they are able to go outside in case they believe that the whole organization is in an improper course.
Effective whistleblowing is therefore a necessity for a healthy organizational culture, good governance. Successful whistle blowing is when concerns inside the organization could be raised with confidence, properly investigated and addressed when necessary.
Barriers to whistle blowing
1. Fear of retaliation
One of the largest barriers in today's organizations against whistle blowing is retaliation against the disclosure. Retaliation can vary from minor harassment in certain cases to the extremity of costing one's life. In a typical case, the employee who blows the whistle would be put under pressure to rescind his words and refrain from further disclosures.
Some of the common practices of retaliation are :
Marginalise the employee by taking away the job duties.
Blacklist the employee so that he can't gain further employment.
Conduct retaliatory investigations in order to divert attention from the matter and abuse the whistleblower.
Question whistle blowers professional competence, honesty and mental health.
Reassign the employee so that he/she is unable to do the job
At times, retaliation becomes extreme as Satyendra Dubey was murdered after he revealed corruption on a road project.
2. Legal liability
There are significant legal barriers to whistle blowing in several countries. At times there are no significant laws or acts for whistle blowing(e.g. India). These include the traditional laws to respect the employer, act in his best interests etc. There may also be secret laws in institutions to punish whistle blowers and deter further whistle blowing.
a. Duty of loyalty and confidentiality
Many countries in Asia have is the duty of loyalty and fidelity to the employer. This usually deters an employee from expressing personal opinion or revealing internal information.
The Indian Law Reform Commission has recently recognized that while a public servant might be subject to the duty of confidentiality, it doesn't extend to remain silent regarding the corrupt activities of other public servants. The public interest is better served if maladministration and corruption are exposed.
b. Secret Acts
In most common wealth countries the state has criminal laws prohibiting the release of military and state laws by officials and outsiders. e.g. Pakistan Officials Secret Acts, 1923 makes illegal the disclosure of any information that has been entrusted to him by confidence by any person holding office or to which he has access due the position he holds.
These laws thus generate a significant barrier to anti corruption efforts and genrally prohibit disclosure of information without permisiion. In Malaysia, the opposition leader Mohd Ezan Mohd Noor was prosecuted in 2000 under the OSA for releasing police reports of corruption by high level government officials. In London, a whistle blower who revealed that the London police force had released incorrect statements regarding the shooting of an innocent man was also arrested. These laws are also used in political cases.
c. Libel
In many countries, defamation and libel laws are used to deter the whistle