Harvesting the Company Gripevine

As every business is no doubt aware, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002, requires public companies to provide a confidential reporting mechanism that allows employees to report incidents or concerns anonymously and without retribution.

Unfortunately, many of the hot lines and services used by companies to comply with this law have been less than effective and often let important information slip through the cracks.

Further eroding their credibility, claims made through hot lines have been suppressed or edited by the company auditors or executives.

Steven Foster, executive vice president and CEO of Colorado-based Business Controls, tells the tale of a Fortune 25 company that thought it had a handle on transparency, with around 150 benign reports a year through its employee hot line system. ...