Retaliation in the Workplace
Organize an anti-retaliation program that creates a workplace that detects and prevents retaliation against employees.
Challenge of Addressing Retaliation
Retaliation and its impact on employees is a serious issue for organizations yet it is often difficult to resolve. Retaliation rates are climbing and studies show 35% of employees fear retaliation from employers. This impacts corporate culture and worker productivity and may ultimately lead to monetary fines in retaliation cases.
Managers in many cases may not even realize that they are retaliating against employees. They may believe they are being impartial while employees notice even subtle changes in behavior. Or they may see a whistleblower not as a contributing employee but as an obstacle to meeting departmental goals.
What You Need
- Training - Education for your employees on your zero-tolerance approach to retaliation.
- Prevention Focus - Leadership and supervisor training to address retaliation.
- Report Intake - A system to capture and address every report of misconduct related to retaliation.
- Code of Ethics - An engaging code of conduct that holds managers and others accountable and creates a sense of duty to do the right thing.
- Speak-Up Culture - Create a culture that values and encourages employees to express their concerns, provide their feedback and ask questions.
- Zero Tolerance - Zero-tolerance retaliation policies and a way to distribute and manage those policies.
Steps You Can Take to Prevent Retaliation
The following steps outline practical measures organizations can take to proactively reduce the risk of retaliation and support a safe, transparent reporting culture.
Establish a Code of Conduct
Establish a Code of Conduct that clearly addresses and encourages employees to come forward to identify organizational issues.
Develop a training program
Establish and train supervisors on policies related to employee retaliation, and develop a formal training program for all employees addressing retaliation.
Promote your whistleblower hotline
Promote the employee hotline and online issue intake options to identify and communicate organization and individual wrongdoing.
Formalize incident management
Institute a formal incident management program to resolve issues and ensure that employees are protected from supervisor retaliation.
Do the right things right – take the next steps in your risk and compliance journey today
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