Most
workers would report colleagues for cheating their company, a survey has found.
The
survey by YouGov on behalf of KPMG Forensic finds 83 per cent of people would
report colleagues to the boss for major incidents of fraud, while 44 per cent
would report them for minor incidents, such as stealing office stationery.
Alex
Plavsic, head of fraud investigations at KPMG Forensic, said this is a marked
change: “In the past, we have found that employees have felt less inclined to report
obvious incidents of fraud due to their unwillingness to turn-in their fellow
employees, but now, as our survey shows, there has been a significant
turnaround in people’s behaviour.
“The
impact that some of the recent corporate failures have had on people’s lives
which has often resulted in huge numbers of job losses, may have led to a
significant change of attitude towards fraud in the workplace.
"People
now recognise that it is not a victimless crime and that those who are
responsible should be reported and held to account for their actions.”
Plavsic
said it is important that employers create a culture in which people are
encouraged to speak up and feel they can whistle blow.
He
said a whistle-blowing policy needs to be established so staff can report
concerns in a confidential manner without fear of repercussions.
Ninety-four
per cent of the 1,807 respondents said they felt accounts’ manipulation was
unacceptable, or that they felt uneasy about it.
But
people were less worried about crimes that they benefited from.
The
survey found:
–
41 per cent of people admitted to having lied in the past to their boss to
enable them to have a day off
–
78 per cent thought it acceptable to steal items of stationery
–
52 per cent would put personal letters through the work postage system
–
Over half (51 per cent) of those surveyed think that there should be some
restriction on personal e-mail at work, and a third of those surveyed (30 per
cent) thought personal e-mail should be completely prohibited within the
workplace
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–
More than half (52 per cent) think employers should have the right to monitor
staff e-mails
