When Chain of Command Becomes Chain of Silence: The Case for Independent Reporting

What happens when employees don’t have independent reporting channels to communicate their concerns?

Someone spots concerning conduct by a senior manager. Who do they tell when the person they’d normally report to is the problem?

An employee witnesses financial irregularities that seem to involve people at board level. Where exactly does that report go?

These aren’t hypothetical scenarios. They’re happening in Kiwi workplaces right now—and the numbers tell us most aren’t being reported at all.

Whistleblower complaints to the Ombudsman jumped 58% in 2023/24. Yet only 49% of New Zealand employees are satisfied with how their concerns are handled—the lowest rate recorded globally. And here’s the real problem: only 44% of employees think their job would be safe if they reported serious wrongdoing.

The high-profile BNZ case shows exactly why these fears are justified.

When Melissa Bowen raised concerns about a senior manager in 2016, she was assured by BNZ’s Head of Employee Relations that the bank would protect her and “does not punish people for raising their concerns.”

What happened instead? The manager she’d reported then proposed making her role redundant. After an eight-year legal battle, the Employment Relations Authority ruled this was the first substantiated case of whistleblower retaliation in New Zealand—finding BNZ’s restructure proposal “had no credible commercial basis” and was retaliatory.

Someone reports upward through internal channels. Gets explicit assurance of protection. Then watches their career get dismantled by the person they reported.

Traditional internal reporting often fails precisely when it matters most—when the issue sits higher up the hierarchy. The organisational structure that’s meant to provide clarity becomes the barrier that keeps critical information from reaching decision-makers.

Independent reporting channels like EthicsPro® cut through this. They ensure serious concerns reach the right people regardless of who’s involved—because protecting your organisation matters more than protecting anyone’s position within it.

When employees can bypass internal politics and power structures to report anonymously to a genuinely independent third party, you get earlier warnings, better outcomes, and stronger organisational integrity.

The question for New Zealand leaders: If someone needed to report concerns about a senior manager in your organisation right now, would they know how to do it safely? And would they actually believe they’d be protected?

Don’t let hierarchy become a barrier to the truth.

Report It Now™’s EthicsPro® system provides truly independent reporting channels that bypass internal power structures entirely. Anonymous. Secure. Available 24/7. Your employees get protection. You get the early warning you need.

Find out how independent reporting protects both your people and your organisation. Get in touch.

References:

1. Ombudsman New Zealand – “Whistleblowing on the rise, growing number of complaints” (June 2024)
   https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/news/whistleblowing-rise-growing-number-complaints-ombudsman
2. 1News – “BNZ proposal to force whistleblower out was retaliation, authority rules” (June 2024)
   https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/06/26/bnz-proposal-to-force-whistleblower-out-was-retaliation-authority-rules/
3. Institute of Business Ethics – “Ethics at Work: 2024 New Zealand”
   https://www.ibe.org.uk/ethicsatwork2024/new-zealand.html

#WhistleblowerProtection #WorkplaceEthics #OrganisationalGovernance #BusinessIntegrity #NZBusiness