Having been involved in a situation at work where i was required by law and CIMA’s code of conduct to blow the whistle on my employers a number of issues were raised that i didn’t have the answers to.

Who do i report it to? Advice received was the SWAT team, Police or other legal body. After googling i found a legal body but how do i know its legal and ethical.

If the new Companies Act requires certain actions or you may be liable to all sorts of things even if you are not a director – where do I report this to. At CIMA lectures we were told you must blow the whistle and leave the job. Great but what if you are supporting a family. Okay then work on obtaining required proof and find another job then report it. Not so easy in the present economy.

Eventually i decided that i needed to cover myself and contacted the bank and requested a meeting but it was refused (after first being accepted) on the grounds that it was unethical not to include the directors, but the request would remain confidential. The next morning it was reported to the directors that i had made allegations against them. Next  the bank requested a meeting with the directors and myself to discuss my allegations. I consider this unethical of the bank (whos top management contains at least one CIMA member). Would you attend the meeting?

It must be the most difficult and stressful thing to do to blow the whistle on your employers knowing that you may lose many jobs including your own in the process. This needs to be made easier on the person blowing the whistle by giving guidelines of who to contact, by when and how. The new companies act in SA is particularly onerous on all managers not just directors but there are no guidelines. As many managers are CIMA students / members they need to understand that it is not what you know but what you should have known that holds you responsible.

We need a support line and we need to know about it. I am still trying to extricate myself from this mess where stress is high, job loss imminent (for doing the right thing) and still not being sure that I have done everything required.