The group whistleblowing arrangements provide a valuable opportunity for employees, and others, to raise concerns anonymously.
Whistleblowing
Speak Out
The Speak Out system offers a central platform to confidentially report potential violations of Allied Universal’s ethics code. This includes serious issues like threats of violence, harassment, discrimination, health and safety hazards, and breaches of company policies or law. Speak Out is available 24/7 in multiple languages, and allows anonymous reporting where permitted by law. Whether you are an employee, subcontractor or third party, Speak Out empowers you to voice your concerns and contribute to a safe and ethical work environment.
If colleagues have any concerns that our standards are not being met, we encourage them to use Speak Out, our global whistleblowing channel, to report them.
Speak Out can be used by any employee, in confidence, in multiple languages, at any time of the day or night.
The majority of matters raised via Speak Out are HR grievances, which are managed by the local HR team. Where appropriate, concerns regarding operational procedures are investigated by local management to ensure that relevant standards are being followed, Internal Audit and other assurance functions may also assess operational compliance.
Matters which are classified as being of a serious nature are investigated at a senior and independent level.
The International Ethics Committee oversees the implementation of our whistleblowing policy and conducts regular reviews of serious cases, investigation progress and resulting actions.
Continuing to adopt best practice
The 2023 launch of the EthicsPoint case management system across our international business significantly enhanced oversight and reporting of key management information related to concerns and investigations. This includes tracking key performance indicators such as investigation completion time, trends in the types of concerns raised, substantiation rates, and quarterly and annual trends in new reports.
Importantly, retaliation is strictly prohibited, and any act of retaliation against those who speak out is treated as a serious disciplinary offense, potentially leading to dismissal (in accordance with local laws).
We treat every report with utmost seriousness. All concerns undergo careful review and assessment to determine the appropriate action. For critical matters, we conduct thorough investigations overseen by senior, independent personnel. We perform root cause analysis for the most serious concerns and implement necessary corrective actions.
The majority of reports received through Speak Out are HR related and are managed by local HR teams. In 2024, a total of 1,517 concerns were raised, a decrease from 1,528 the previous year.
Following the conclusion of investigations into all substantiated serious concerns, the findings and recommendations are reviewed and overseen by the global Chief Compliance Officer, global general counsel, global Chief Human Resources Officer, International Ethics Committee, regional ethics committees, and the Director of Ethics and Compliance - International. Potential sanctions include disciplinary actions against individuals, reporting matters to local authorities, and/or implementing changes to procedures and updated training programs.
Progress against goals for 2024
- Continue to raise awareness and trust in the Speak Out program, achieving year-over-year increases in reported cases and employee survey results.
- Further develop case management system reporting functionality to drive better insights in reporting.
- Refresh the process for the management of concerns including a refreshed policy and procedure.
2025 goals
- Focus on improving data and reporting metrics.
- Improve investigation output.
- Improve substantiation rates for serious concerns.
Please see our Whistleblowing Policy (PDF 249.2 KB) for further information.
If you would like to raise a concern through Speak Out, please do so here.
Speak Out
One of our core values, Integrity, highlights the importance of always doing the right thing, and our Speak Out Global Hotline, encourages our people to do just that – to blow the whistle and report concerns about wrongdoing, such as breaches of laws, regulations or company policy.
.
