D.   Reporting Mechanism:

According to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines an organization must take reasonable steps to achieve compliance with its standards by utilizing monitoring and auditing systems reasonably designed to detect criminal conduct by its employees and other agents and by having in place and publicizing a reporting system whereby employees and other agents could report criminal conduct by others within the organization without fear of retribution.  It is best to design a reporting system with a variety of reporting channels and methods.  The system should be capable of handling written reports such as letters or electronically formatted documents, voice reports and in person reports. All reports should be kept confidential, to the extent possible while protecting the company’s best interests.  Employees may be instructed to report misconduct or wrongdoing to their supervisor or another representative of management.  To help allay an employee’s fears of retribution, a company may establish a reporting "HOTLINE"

or "HELPLINE" which allows reports to be made anonymously.  The "hotline" may be internally staffed or outsourced to a service provider.

When reports are received try to establish a rapport with the reporter by:

      Being reassuring, patient and sensitive to the reporter's apprehensions

      Dealing with both the message and the reporter

      Getting the facts (who, what, where, when and how)

You should not:

      Tape conversations

      Lead a reporter to a conclusion

      Promise a particular result

      Pass judgement or otherwise  express an opinion

Reports should be logged and tracked to ensure they are investigated and followed-up.  The log should contain at least the following information on each report:

      A control number - assigned to identify the report and used to protect the identity of the reporter

      Date the report was made

      Type of report - allegation, inquiry etc.

      Actions taken - including follow-up with the reporter

      Date the report is closed

Additional information to track may include:

      Who took the report

      Who made the report and their contact data

      Who investigated the report

      Subject of the report

Periodically the CEO and Board of Directors (and any compliance steering committee) should be provided with summary data on the reports received, to facilitate an analysis of “root causes” and possible system-wide preventive measures. 

See Sample Reporting Procedure for more detail. 

Links to websites:

       Ethics Officer Association, www.eoa.org.

The EOA’s website includes links to individual corporations’ ethics-related websites.

       Ethics Resources Center, www.ethics.org

            ERC has extensive bibliographies that are well organized.  ERC also published various

            compliance tools, including a surveys to use in the workplace to measure the level of "ethics"

            in a company.  It goes beyond FCPA, but has many useful tools.

       The Ombudsman Association, www.ombuds-toa.org 

            The primary purpose of TOA is to provide a forum for exchanging experiences and ideas among

            practitioners.