BLOG
Between the lines
Articles on ethics hotlines, compliance, and risk prevention.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Everything you need to know about ethics hotlines.
What is an ethics hotline?
It’s a confidential channel where employees, suppliers and others connected to an organization can report misconduct (fraud, harassment, corruption, safety risks) without fear of retaliation, so the company can investigate and act in time.
What is Ethic Lines?
The company specialized in ethics hotlines, with more than 16 years of operation in over 20 countries. Our external team receives, reviews, audits, analyzes, and routes every report to your organization. We help companies learn in time what is happening inside and act before it becomes a problem.
What kinds of organizations can use Ethic Lines?
Companies of any industry and size that want visibility into what happens inside, control over their risks, regulatory compliance, and the trust of their employees.
Why a hotline run by an external team?
Trust. When the company runs the channel itself, people doubt it is confidential and fear retaliation, so almost nobody uses it. With an external team, that conflict of interest disappears.
Is the hotline truly independent from the company that hires it?
Yes. Ethic Lines receives and classifies every report as an external third party and delivers it exactly as submitted, so the organization can investigate and make its own decisions.
How is the whistleblower’s identity protected?
The report reaches Ethic Lines first, not the organization. Whistleblowers decide whether to identify themselves and can follow up on their case with a unique case number and password and an anonymous chat, without revealing who they are.
What happens if the report is about an executive or someone with access to the system?
The case is reassigned to someone else, avoiding any conflict of interest.
Why is it important to have an ethics hotline?
Because almost no wrongdoing is detected on its own: it is detected because someone decides to speak up. Without a channel people trust, the company finds out late, when the problem is already a crisis, a lawsuit, or a financial loss.
Does Ethic Lines help with regulatory compliance?
Yes. In Mexico, NOM-035 requires safe and confidential mechanisms to receive complaints and report workplace violence, and ILO Convention 190 calls for confidential complaint channels and protection against retaliation. Ethic Lines gives you that channel ready to run, with no in-house development.
What kinds of situations can be reported?
Fraud, theft, corruption, conflicts of interest, harassment, workplace bullying, discrimination, and misuse of confidential information, among others. The list adapts to each organization’s needs.
Which channels can people use to report?
Web platform, a phone line with a dedicated number for each company, 24/7 voicemail, and email, with an anonymous option. Every channel is customized with your company’s brand (White Label).
What happens after a report is received?
Our specialized team receives, reviews, audits, and analyzes it, and notifies the people designated by the company in less than 24 hours. Investigation and resolution remain with your organization, with access based on each user’s role.
How is the information protected?
All information is encrypted and stored in a private cloud with ISO 27001 and ISO 27017 certifications.
How long does implementation take?
Between 2 and 4 weeks from kickoff to the hotline launch.
Do you help us communicate the hotline to employees?
Yes. We support your internal communication so your team knows the hotline exists and trusts it enough to use it.
How much does it cost to implement an ethics hotline?
The cost is based on the number of employees.
Nobody is going to tell you.
Unless they have somewhere to.
Give your people a safe channel to tell you.