As an employer, it’s your responsibility to provide a healthy and safe work environment where workers feel safe reporting issues they experience or see.
While a whistleblower in your business may seem like a negative factor, the fact is, it provides you an opportunity to find issues and improve work conditions for all employees.
If a whistleblower reports a safety concern, injury or another protected activity, you need to understand the law and what protections are in place for them. Violating the law can result in serious consequences.
Avoid violating the law with whistleblowers
It’s illegal to take any adverse action or to retaliate against a whistleblower in any way. This includes denying benefits to them, firing, making threats and other similar actions.
It’s also important to know your employees’ rights in these situations. They can:
- File an official complaint with OSHA
- Report any work-related injury
- Request an OSHA inspection
- Bring up a health or safety complaint
- Access injury and exposure records
Your responsibility as an employer
As an employer, it’s up to you to create an environment where employees feel confident that their rights will be protected. It’s also worth remembering that the law entitles employees to blow the whistle and offers them protection when they do. Retaliating against them in any way can result in serious consequences.
Protecting your business
Knowing the laws and rights related to whistleblowers will help you avoid taking any adverse action against them. It will also ensure that employees feel confident in reporting issues, which will provide you with the opportunity to correct the problem or hazard.