Church Whistleblower Protection Policy (Sample)

The Church Whistleblower Protection Policy (sample) below is available free to download, customize and print at your convenience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your church administration office, Human Resources Department, etc.

Whistleblowers policy and procedures are critical tools for protecting individuals who work in an organization or church who report activities believed to be illegal, dishonest, unethical, or otherwise.

Every church should have a Whistleblower Protection Policy in place and should have it available for their church members and staff to access and read at all times if they wanted to.

The policy below for the whistleblower protection is a free and very important tool or guideline to use in your church administration office or Human Resources Department to create a policy and procedure of your own to fit your church specifically.

Policies and procedures are very important because they provide a set of guidelines for governing such things as the church whistleblower protection. Without them your church would have many questions and would not govern in a proper and organized way for their donors, members, etc.

What is a Whistleblower Protection Policy?

An employer or church cannot retaliate against you for exercising your rights under The Department of Labor whistleblower protection laws. Retaliation includes such actions as firing or laying off, demoting, denying overtime or promotion or reducing pay or hours.

The sample Church Whistleblower Protection Policy below is available free to download and includes:

• Church Name - Insert your church name on the top of your policy and procedure.
• Policy & Procedures and Name of Policy - Insert the full name of your policy and procedure.
• Purpose - The purpose to this policy is to: (a) Encourage the reporting of matters that may cause harm to individual or financial or non-financial loss to [Church Name] or damage to its reputation. (b) Enable [Church Name] to deal with reports from whistleblowers in a way that will protect the identity of the whistleblower as far as possible and provide for the secure storage of the information provided. (c) Establish policies for protecting whistleblowers against reprisal by any person internal or external to the entity (d) Provide for the appropriate infrastructure (e) To ensure [Church Name] maintains the highest standards of ethical behavior and integrity.
• Guidelines - Concerns Regarding Illegal or Corrupt Behavior Where an employee or volunteer of [Church Name] believes in good faith on reasonable grounds that any other employee, volunteer or contractor has breached any provision of the general law, that employee must report their concern to: 1. Their Supervisor: or if they feel that their Supervisor may be complicit in the breach 2. The Assistant Pastor: or if they feel that the Assistant Pastor may be complicit in the breach, 3. The Senior Pastor: or if they feel that the Senior Pastor may be complicit in the breach, 4. The church’s nominated Whistleblower Protection Officer (WPO): or if they feel it is necessary, 5. A person or office independent of [Church Name] nominated by the church to receive such information or, 6. The duly constituted authorities responsible for the enforcement of the law in the relevant area.                                                     The person making their concern known shall not suffer any sanctions for [Church Name] on account of their actins in this regard providing their actions: (a) Are in good faith, and (b) Are based on reasonable grounds, and (c) Conform to the designated procedures.                      Any such person within [Church Name] to whom such a disclosure is made shall: (a) If they believe the behavior complained of to be unquestionably trivial or fanciful, dismiss the allegation and notify the person making the allegation of their decision (b) If they believe the behavior complained of to be neither trivial nor fanciful, ensure that the allegation is investigated, a finding is made and the person making the allegation is informed of the finding.             Any such investigations shall observe the rules of natural justice and the provisions of the procedural fairness.          Disclosures may be made anonymously, and this anonymity shall as far as possible be preserved by [Church Name].
• Concerns Regarding Improper or Unethical Behavior - Were an employee of [Church Name] believes in good faith on reasonable grounds that any other employee, volunteer or contractor has breached any provision of [Church Name]’s constitution or its code of conduct or generally recognized principles of ethics, that employee/volunteer may report their concern to: (See policy below for the rest of the Concerns Regarding Improper or Unethical Behavior.)
• Signatures and Date - Senior Pastor's Signature with date, phone and email address along with the Whistleblower Protection Officer's Signature with date, phone and email address
• Date Revised - Insert the current date each time the policy is revised/updated.

Church Whistleblower Protection Policy (Sample)

Return to Church Policy Manual from the Church Whistleblower Protection Policy (Sample).