In recent weeks we have seen different scenarios of irregularities committed within different organizations. And they all have one element in common: compliance and the complaints channel. We highlight some:
- Telefónica has just fired several executives in relation to a conflict of interest.
- The Santander announced last week that its complaints channel had handled 4,400 cases in one year.
- The World Bank vetoes GMV and FCC for fraudulent practices.
- Former managers of FC Barcelona are being investigated for possible crimes of unfair administration and corruption between individuals.
- The Popular Party will create a compliance area and will establish a complaints channel.
It is clear that more and more organizations are protecting themselves, or should, against irregularities carried out by members of the organization. In large organizations this is increasingly formalized, with a Compliance Officer, who guarantees the organization’s compliance model. But in medium and small companies, this is not so common. The criminal compliance models are exempting or mitigating the criminal responsibility of the legal person.
This 2021, new regulations will make the Whistleblower Channel, ethical channel or whistleblower channel essential in any organization with more than 250 employees. Much will be said about the reporting channels and many organizations will be made to reflect, some without them and others with channels that do not comply with the regulations. The obligation will make many companies that until now were not aware that they should implement it, react and implement it.
And the channel is necessary for …
- Compliance with the new European regulation of “whistleblowing”.
- Channels against workplace harassment and sexual or gender-based harassment.
- Comply with the equality plan.
- Compliance with RDL11 / 2018 on Money Laundering.
The channel is not the solution to avoid irregularities in the organization. But it is a very useful tool to make it much easier to identify and correct them before it is too late.
The complaints channel has come to stay
Many times the channel is seen as one more obligation, but in the medium term the company that does not have it will be dead, and not because of the possible sanctions that it may have and that there will be. If not because not having it, it will be an indication of the culture of that company and people will gradually stop working in unethical or corrupt organizations.
In addition, the implementation of reporting channels will gradually make organizations take compliance much more seriously and see it as an essential element in favor of the board of directors and shareholders. The interests of management and employees are not always the same as those of shareholders, and compliance and reporting channels are in place to prevent private interests from generating problems for those of the organization itself.
There are elements that are often temporary fads, the complaints channel has come to stay and is the cornerstone on which an ethical and compliance culture will be built in organizations. The obligation to have a complaints channel will be the catalyst for compliance in small and medium-sized companies.
ithikios , is a whistleblower / ethical channel software designed to facilitate the implementation of an online channel in the company. It is a saas solution, in the cloud, that allows you to implement a fully customized channel already adapted to the needs of any organization in a few minutes. In a simple and safe way, because although conceptually a channel is simple, security and regulatory compliance are key to its operation.
