The University Whistleblower Policy is a mechanism that allows employees to make good faith disclosures of improper activity at the workplace, without fear of reprisals.
The Whistleblower Policy is intended to encourage employees to make good faith reports of improper employment activity including, but not limited to, financial misconduct, theft, fraud, misappropriation of university assets, forgery, falsification, inappropriate alteration or destruction of University records, and any act concealing or attempting to conceal an improper activity.
The policy applies to all York University employees, including student employees, faculty, and instructors.
Improper activity is defined as an employee who is undertaking financial misconduct, theft, fraud, misappropriation of university assets, forgery, falsification or inappropriate alteration or destruction of university records, and any act of concealing or assisting in such activities.
Where there are established policies and procedures or collective agreements governing the alleged improper activity in question, the Director, Internal Audit will redirect the good faith disclosure to the appropriate office specified in the relevant Policy or procedure or collective agreement.
The university has policies and procedures in place related to human rights, equity, and inclusion, sexual violence, workplace harassment, Health & Well-being, safety, and decision-making structures.
Yes.
Any employee who has information or reasonable grounds to believe that an improper activity has occurred, is occurring, or may be foreseeable to occur or imminent is encouraged to make a good faith disclosure.
Employees should provide a written disclosure including the identification and description of the improper activity, perceived risks, involved parties, and any other relevant information. This should be submitted to the Director, Internal Audit, using the confidential disclosure portal that will be provided on York’s website.
Yes, anonymous disclosures are permitted. However, the ability of the University to address the disclosure may be limited if the identity of the discloser is unknown.
The University will make reasonable efforts to keep the details of a good faith disclosure confidential and protect the identity of the employee to the fullest extent possible.
The login credentials are used as an initial step to ensure the report is coming from an employee. No identifying information is kept once the employee has successfully logged in. In addition, the submitted form will not include any identifying details and will remain anonymous.
Employees making a good faith disclosure are protected from reprisal. The University will review, respond, and/or investigate and take appropriate action to address allegations of reprisal.
The Director, Internal Audit, will conduct a preliminary review. If reasonable grounds exist, an investigation will be initiated. The results will be shared with appropriate university officers for follow-up action. Limited status updates may be provided to the discloser, subject to confidentiality constraints.
Employees who knowingly make false, frivolous, or vexatious allegations may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.
These questions should be referred to the Information, Privacy and Copyright Office, info.privacy@yorku.ca.