Survey finds Brits most likely to blow whistle

By Elena Moya

LONDON (Reuters) - One in five employees of European multinational companies say they would not blow the whistle if they were to suspect colleagues of fraud, bribery or corruption, according to a survey.

In Britain, however, as much as 86 percent of employees said they would feel comfortable with reporting a suspicion of fraud or other wrongdoing -- the highest percentage in the 13 European countries surveyed, accountancy firm Ernst & Young said in a report published on Monday.

French employees felt the least comfortable with whistle-blowing, with only 39 percent saying they would report a suspicion of fraud, mostly because of fears of reprisal, said Ernst & Young in its "Fraud Risk Mitigation in Europe" report.

"The UK has developed a very strong reporting culture based on an anonymous route to inform wrongdoing, which is supported by law," said John Smart, a partner at Ernst & Young.

"Despite plenty of evidence to show that whistleblowers are one of the best ways to identify and stop fraud, many employees in Europe fear reprisals, even loss of employment if they do blow the whistle," Smart said.

In Britain, the 1998 Public Interest Disclosure Act forbids employees from sacking whistle-blowers who act in good faith, the report said.

Just over a third of the 1,300 surveyed were aware of a whistle-blower hotline in their company, the report said. Britain ranked the highest in this category, with an awareness of 72 percent, while the 27 percent recorded in Slovakia was the lowest.