Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed wrongful – whether it be illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical, or fraudulent. Whistleblowers can communicate in a variety of ways internally, and/or publicly. Over 83% of whistleblowers report internally to a supervisor, human resources, compliance, or a neutral third party within the company, hoping that the company will address and correct the issues. A whistleblower can also bring allegations to light by communicating with external entities, often becoming a source in investigative journalism or other media, or law enforcement or other government agents. Some countries legislate as to what constitutes a protected disclosure, and the permissible methods of presenting a disclosure. Whistleblowing can occur in the private sector or the public sector.
Whistleblowers often face retaliation for their disclosure, including termination of employment. Several other actions may also be considered retaliatory, including an unreasonable increase in workloads, reduction of hours, preventing task completion, mobbing or bullying. Whistleblower protection laws in many countries offer some protection for whistleblowers and regulate whistleblowing activities. These laws tend to adopt different approaches to public and private sector whistleblowing.
