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Career Clinic: Should you blow the whistle on your boss?

Reporting wrongdoing at work raises a number of things including moral, practical and legal considerations

Imagine this scenario: you have been working in a support role for a financial services business for three years. You have a good relationship with your boss – who has always treated you well, particularly at bonus time. Then one day you discover that your boss has been breaching strict trading rules. Do you speak out or keep quiet?

Whistle-blowing, which is effectively reporting wrongdoing at work, raises a number of things including moral, practical and legal considerations. Some people may prefer the quiet life, choosing not to rock the boat unless they really have to. Others could feel that the only correct thing to do is to spill the beans. Whistle-blowing has, of course, had a lot of publicity recently, notably in connection with the Hillsborough disaster and the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust scandal, and there have been calls for a culture change and better protection for those who do speak out.

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