October 27, 2011 10.39 am This story is over 149 months old

Whistleblower hotline for Lincoln businesses

Integrity Line: Lincoln businesses can now get free access to a staff wrongdoing whistle blowing hotline.

Businesses in Lincoln are being offered free access to a whistle blowing hotline where staff can report anonymously wrongdoing at work.

The Lincoln Business Improvement Group (BIG) negotiated an offer with Crimestoppers’ Integrity Line which gives Lincoln BIG Security Group members free access.

Normally this scheme would cost businesses £1,000, plus £1 for each employee every year.

Lincoln BIG Operations Manager Mick Lake said: “Depending upon the nature of the business concerned, research reveals that about 30 to 40% of loss is down to wrongdoing by staff.

“This may involve cashiers under-ringing or voiding till transactions to allow an associate to obtain goods at reduced prices, but other more sophisticated scams operate across all sectors of the retail and leisure industries.”

The Crimestoppers’ Integrity Line is a service which offers people who want to report wrongdoing at work anonymously, by phone or online.

A Crimestoppers’ spokesman said: “In any organisation, staff are often reluctant to highlight wrongdoing and raise compliance issues, for fear that their identity and complaint will become known amongst colleagues.

“Internally-run reporting or whistleblowing lines can be mistrusted and inefficient.

“For these reasons, unethical and unlawful activity can go unchecked, undermining and destabilising a company or organisation.”

Lincoln BIG Security Group can join the scheme free by simply registering with the group.

Source: Lincoln BIG | Photo: Pieter Ouwerkerk