Whistleblower policies are critical tools for protecting individuals who report activities believed to be illegal, dishonest, unethical, or otherwise improper. This policy is intended to encourage Board members, staff/employees, and others to report suspected or actual occurrence(s) of illegal, unethical, or inappropriate events (behaviors or practices) without retribution.
I. The organization will not retaliate against a whistleblower. This includes, but is not limited to, protection from retaliation in the form of an adverse employment action such as termination, compensation decreases or poor work assignments, and threats of physical harm. Any whistleblower who believes he/she is being retaliated against must contact the Human Resources Director immediately. The right of a whistleblower for protection against retaliation does not include immunity for any personal wrongdoing that is alleged and investigated.
II. Whistleblower protections are provided in two important areas: confidentiality and retaliation. Insofar as possible, the confidentiality of the whistleblower will be maintained. However, identity may have to be disclosed to conduct a thorough investigation to comply with the law and to provide accused individuals their legal rights of defense.
III. Individuals protected include
. the employee, or a person acting on behalf of the employee, who reports to a public body or is about to report to a public body a matter of public concern; or
A. the employee who participates in a court action, an investigation, a hearing, or an inquiry held by a public body on a matter of public concern.
IV. The organization may not discharge, threaten, or otherwise discriminate against an employee regarding the employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment.
V. The organization may not disqualify an employee or other person who brings a matter of public concern, or participates in a proceeding connected with a matter of public concern, before a public body or court, because of the report or participation, from eligibility to receive any right, privilege, or benefit.
VI. The provisions of this policy do not
. require the organization to compensate an employee for participation in a court action or in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry by a public body;
A. prohibit the organization from compensating an employee for participation in a court action or in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry by a public body;
B. authorize the disclosure of information that is legally required to be kept confidential; or
C. diminish or impair the rights of an employee under a collective bargaining agreement.
VII. Limitation to protections
A person is not entitled to the protections under this policy unless he or she reasonably believes that the information reported is, or is about to become, a matter of public concern; and reports the information in good faith.
A. A person is entitled to the protections under this policy only if the matter of public concern is not the result of conduct by the individual seeking protection unless it is the result of conduct by the person that was required by his or her employer.
B. Before an employee initiates a report to a public body on a matter of public concern under this policy, the employee shall submit a written report concerning the matter to the organization’s chief executive officer. However, the employee is not required to submit a written report if he or she believes with reasonable certainty that the activity, policy, or practice is already known to the chief executive officer; or that an emergency is involved.
VIII. Relief and penalties
. A person who alleges a violation of this policy may bring a civil action and the court may grant appropriate relief.
I. If an employee has knowledge of illegal or dishonest/fraudulent activity, the employee is to contact his/her immediate supervisor or the Human Resources Director. All reports or concerns of illegal and dishonest activities will be promptly submitted by the receiving supervisor to the Human Resources Director, who is responsible for investigating and coordinating any necessary corrective action. Any concerns involving the Human Resource Director should be reported to the chief executive officer.
II. The whistleblower is not responsible for investigating the alleged illegal or dishonest activity, or for determining fault or corrective measures; appropriate management officials are charged with these responsibilities.
III. Examples of illegal or dishonest activities include violations of federal, state, or local laws; billing for services not performed or for goods not delivered; and other fraudulent financial reporting. The employee must exercise sound judgment to avoid baseless allegations. An employee who intentionally files a false report of wrongdoing will be subject to disciplinary action.
1. “Whistleblower” is defined by this policy as an employee who reports, to one or more of the parties specified in this policy, an activity that he/she considers to be illegal, dishonest, unethical, or otherwise improper.
2. “Employee,” or “public employee,” means a person who performs a service for wages or other remuneration under a contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied, for the district.
3. “Matter of public concern” means
To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor the usage of our Service.
To manage Your Account: to manage Your registration as a user of the Service. The Personal Data You provide can give You access to different functionalities of the Service that are available to You as a registered user.
For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance, and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items, or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service.
To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application's push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products, or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation.
To provide You with news, special offers, and general information about other goods, services, and events that we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless You have opted not to receive such information.
To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us.
For business transfers: We may use Your information to evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or another sale or transfer of some or all of Our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Data held by Us about our Service users is among the assets transferred.
For other purposes: We may use Your information for other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns, and evaluating and improving our Service, products, services, marketing, and your experience.
With Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, and to contact You.
For business transfers: We may share or transfer Your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of Our business to another company.
With Affiliates: We may share Your information with Our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include Our parent company and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners, or other companies that We control or that are under common control with Us.
With business partners: We may share Your information with Our business partners to offer You certain products, services, or promotions.
With other users: when You share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside.
With Your consent: We may disclose Your personal information for any other purpose with Your consent.
The Company will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.
The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.
Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company's operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ from those of Your jurisdiction.
Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer.
The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your data and other personal information.
If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.
Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).
The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:
The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your Personal Data, We cannot guarantee its absolute security.
We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.
We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "Last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy.
Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third-party link, You will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit.
We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.
We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.
We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the "Last updated" date at the top of this Privacy Policy.
You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, You can contact us:
By email: info@conetwork.me
By visiting this page on our website: http://www.conetwork.me