There is a lack of knowledge about how employers facilitate whistleblowing and how they consider and handle such cases. To understand the rationale of employers in whistleblowing-cases, we will study how they balance two fundamental but possible conflicting democratic principles: the property right, as a basis for the right to manage, and freedom of speech as a basis for whistleblowing. We want to find out what kind of dilemmas and tensions that are released in connection with whistleblowing, and how employee loyalty affect workers’ voice.
The study will be conducted in banks and hospitals in Norway, Denmark, Ireland and UK. Both sectors have vital importance in well-functioning societies. It is therefore decisive that workers are able to report wrongdoing without the risk of being sanctioned. These four countries have different employment systems and regulations, which will enable us to investigate how such differences might affect whistleblowing processes. So far, there is limited comparative knowledge in this field.
During 2022, surveys have been conducted in the four countries. Preliminary analyzes in Norway show that employees experience limitations in their freedom of expression. These restrictions are related to employment contracts and to the top management's desire to secure a good reputation for the business. We also find that the proportion of whistleblowers in Norwegian working life is stable over time. At the same time, data shows that fewer workers report that it helps to blow the whistle, and the proportion of those who receive reprisals because of their reporting has increased over the past ten years.
