Report: Companies Not Aware of Increased Whistleblower Protection Given by McCaskill Amendement to Economic Stimulus
A new report out today at Workforce.com discusses a sparsely publicized effect of the $787 billion stimulus package signed into law recently by President Barack Obama: companies receiving stimulus funds will be subject to greater whistleblower laws.
The McCaskill Amendment that is attached to the stimulus bill mandates that private employers who receive funding from the stimulus bill are now subject to the same whistleblower protections as government entities. The effective difference is that private-company employees are typically protected by whistle-blower laws when raising concerns about public-interest issues. Under the McCaskill Amendment, employees will now be protected by whistleblower laws if they raise concerns about waste or mismanagement of funds as well.
Other significant new rules attached to the stimulus bill include:
- Internal disclosures are protected, not just whistleblower reports to outside parties;
- There is now more of an onus on employers than employees according to the language of the law.
The problem? First, the broad scope of the McCaskill Amendment provides a wide spectrum of interpretation. Additionally, according to Ron Snell, CEO of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, companies are not aware of the McCaskill Amendment’s potential effects for recipients of stimulus funding; and if employees are educated about the protections, companies will have to find a way to deal with the additional influx of potential whistleblower calls.
“Companies are going to have to sort through these calls and focus on the fraud and abuse and do those first, and then sort through the calls about mismanagement and try to separate those from just bad decisions,” Snell said. “I think when they write these laws they don’t often understand the operational impact.”
Many people believe that the inclusion of the McCaskill Amendment in the stimulus bill is a first step towards a renewed focus on increasing whistleblower protection for employees in the wake of a plethora of recent scandals at companies across the country.
Follow the link to read Companies Getting Stimulus Funds Subject to Greater Whistle Blower Laws at Workforce.com.
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Other relevant links:
Federal and State Laws Protect Whistleblowers — (WhistleblowerLaw.com)
The McCaskill Amendment to the Economic Stimulus Bill — (American Law Institute – American Bar Association)
McCaskill Amendment pushes employers to action — (Whistle Blowers Blog)
Added Whistleblower Protection in McCaskill Amendment — (Employer Law Report)
Tags: federal stimulus package, McCaskill Amendment, roy snell, scce, whistleblower blaws
