Is It Legal to Leave an Anonymous Report About Workplace Misconduct?

There are a lot of reasons why most employees fear to report workplace misconduct. One of the major reasons why most people will not openly report a violation against them at work place is the fear of loss of their job. Mostly because the violation is from a senior worker.

Failure to report workplace misconduct or harassment causes the organization to lose valuable human resources. In addition, it lowers the employee's zeal for work thus affecting the general productivity of the organization.

It is the duty of the employer to have in place the mechanisms where employees can make reports on harassment and track their claim safely.

If you are being harassed at your workplace or just a concerned person witnessing the misconduct but don't want to be directly involved, you can anonymously report it. But is it legal?

Why Should Employers Embrace Anonymous Reporting?

Organizations should encourage anonymous reporting as an alternative way of reporting harassment and misconduct. It encourages an employee to come out on time to report a violation against them.

The early reporting of a violation of ethical behavior in the workplace, enables the organization to curb the issue before it grows into a bigger problem.

About 74% of employees say that they prefer to anonymously report workplace misconduct.

Anonymous reporting helps the employees to have confidence in the organization. Also, it encourages them to communicate their grievances safely without the fear of stigmatization or loss of job.

Depending on how the grievance is handled, the whistle blower can voluntarily come forward and give more clarity on the issue.

Does Anonymous Reporting Work?

Although anonymous reporting provides a safe avenue for the employees to report harassment, it is definitely not the most effective method.

An organization is in a better place to deal with the report where there is an attached identity. It is hard to follow up on the employee who made the claim for clarification.

In addition, allowing anonymity reporting in organizations makes it seem risky for employees to speak up. This discourages the employees from using any other method of reporting harassment and workplace misconduct.

Where the cases are not serious in nature, anonymous reporting can help solve them. However, in situations where the matters are gross in nature, the anonymous reporting cannot be of much help. For instances, anonymous reporting cannot be very useful in reporting sexual harassment cases. The organization needs to know who the culprit is, the victim, and acquire evidence on the same.

Anonymous reporting on workplace misconduct is legal especially in most organizations. Although some do not allow anonymous reporting. It encourages the employees to report violations without getting too involved or risking losing their jobs. If the violation is of a serious nature, the organization should consider finding out who made the report.

Alternatively, every organization should have proper facilities where the employees can report misconduct with fear of losing their jobs or stigmatization.

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