EthicsPoint Question and Answer for Employees

• Q: What is EthicsPoint?
  • EthicsPoint is a confidential reporting tool to assist us to work together to address fraud, abuse, and misconduct in the workplace. By doing so, we enhance our ability to cultivate a positive work environment.
• Q. May I report using either the Internet or the telephone?
  • Yes. By giving you choices, EthicsPoint helps ensure that employees can file a report anonymously and in the manner most comfortable or convenient to them.
• Q. Why do we need a system like EthicsPoint?
  • There are several reasons why we need a reporting tool:
    1. We want to make sure that there are multiple avenues for employees to report their concerns without fear of retaliation. EthicsPoint is the leading reporting tool and is designed to protect the anonymity and confidentiality of those who use the system.
    2. We believe that employees are Hamilton College’s most important resource. Through open channels of communication, you can participate in improving the College and help create and maintain a safe and ethical environment.
    3. Reporting “hotlines” have been proven to be an effective tool in reducing losses and helping to protect organizations’ financial health.
• Q. Does College administration really want me to report?
  • Yes. In fact, we need you to report. You know what is going on in your department - both good and bad. You may have initial knowledge of an activity that may be cause for concern. Your reporting can minimize the potential negative impact on our community. Also, offering positive input may help identify issues that can improve College culture and performance.
• Q. Why should I report what I know? What’s in it for me?
  • We all have the right to work in a positive environment and with that right comes the responsibility of acting in an ethical manner and letting the appropriate people know if someone is not acting appropriately. By working together, we can maintain a healthy and productive environment. Misconduct can threaten the livelihood of our community.
• Q. What type of situations should I report?
  • EthicsPoint is a communications tool providing an avenue for sharing information of any kind.
• Q. If I see a violation, shouldn't I just report it to my supervisor, security, or human resources and let them deal with it?
  • In general, using existing avenues and protocol for reporting and solving concerns is preferred. This hotline is not intended to supersede any existing methods or protocols for reporting and resolving concerns. Routine discussion with one’s supervisor is the preferred method of resolution for most concerns. If this is not satisfactory, employees are encouraged to consider department or division leadership, a human resources representative, or another appropriate member of College administration.
  • There may be good reasons why in certain situations you might find the EthicsPoint hotline more appropriate. First, EthicsPoint ensures that your report gets to the appropriate people. That may or may not happen if you simply report something to your supervisor, especially when dealing with issues not under his/her control. More importantly, reports can be filed anonymously and all report information is secure and held in the strictest confidence.
• Q. It is my understanding that any report I send from a College computer generates a server log that shows every web-site that my PC connects with, and won’t this log identify me as a report originator?
  • EthicsPoint does not generate or maintain any internal connection logs with IP addresses and does not track or capture screen names or computer addresses (no cookies), so no information linking your computer to EthicsPoint is available.
    Reports placed to EthicsPoint are protected by the latest encryption technology and Hamilton is obligated to not pursue a reporter’s identity.
• Q. Can I file a report from home and still remain anonymous?
  • Yes. A report from home, a neighbor’s computer, or any Internet portal will remain secure and anonymous. An Internet portal never identifies a visitor by screen name and the EthicsPoint system strips away Internet addresses so that anonymity is totally maintained. Plus, EthicsPoint is contractually committed not to pursue a reporter’s identity.
• Q. I am concerned that the information I provide EthicsPoint will ultimately reveal my identity. How can you assure me that will not happen?
  • The EthicsPoint system is designed to protect your anonymity. However, you as a reporting party need to ensure that the body of the report does not reveal your identity by accident, for example, “From my desk next to Jan Smith…” or “In my 33 years…”
• Q: Isn’t this just a “Big Brother” program making everyone suspicious of everyone else?
  • No. The EthicsPoint system concentrates on being a positive aspect of Hamilton’s overall philosophy, and allows us to assure a safe, secure, and ethical workplace. We encourage you to use the system to seek guidance on ethical dilemmas, provide positive suggestions, or communicate a concern. Effective communication is essential for every organization and this is a great tool to enhance that communication.
• Q. I am aware of some individuals involved with unethical conduct, but it doesn't affect me. Why should I bother reporting it?
  • Hamilton chooses to promote ethical behavior. All unethical conduct, at any level, ultimately hurts the College and all employees, including you. You only have to consider what happened in recent corporate scandals to see disastrous effects that a seemingly harmless lapse in ethics can have on an otherwise healthy organization. So if you know of any incidents of misconduct or ethical violations, consider it your duty to yourself and your colleagues to report it.
• Q. I am not sure what I have observed or heard is a violation of College policy, or involves unethical conduct, but it just does not look right to me. What should I do?
  • File a report. EthicsPoint can help you prepare and file your report so it can be properly understood. We'd rather you report a situation that turns out to be harmless than let possible unethical behavior go unchecked because you weren't sure.
    
• Q. Where do these reports go? Who can access them?
  • Reports are entered directly on the EthicsPoint secure server to prevent any possible breech in security. EthicsPoint makes these reports available only to specific individuals within the College who are charged with evaluating the type of violation and location of the incident. Each of these report recipients will keep these reports in the utmost confidence. The EthicsPoint system and staff are trained and committed to ensure that no report is ever shared with implicated parties, their peers, or subordinates.
• Q. What if my boss or other supervisors are involved in a violation? Won’t they get the report and start a cover-up?
  • The EthicsPoint system and report distribution are designed so that implicated parties are not notified or granted access to reports they have been named in. If reports implicate specific individuals within the College who are charged with evaluating the type of violation and appropriate resolution for the reported incident, those reports will be routed to the Vice President for Administration and Finance and the Executive Assistant to the President. If the President, the Executive Assistant to the President, or the Vice President, Administration and Finance are implicated, the report is available only to specified members of the Board of Trustees Audit Committee. This will help prevent any cover-ups by any implicated individual.
• Q. What if I remember something important about the incident after I filed the report? Or what if the College has further questions for me concerning my report?
  • When you file a report at the EthicsPoint Web site or through the EthicsPoint Call Center, you receive a unique user name and are asked to choose a password. You can return to the EthicsPoint system again either by Internet or telephone and access the original report to answer questions posed by a College representative and add further information that will help resolve open issues. We strongly suggest that you return to the site in the time specified to answer College questions. You and the College now have entered into an “anonymous dialogue” where situations are not only identified but can be resolved, no matter how complex.
• Q. Are these follow-ups on reports as secure as the first one?
  • Yes. All EthicsPoint correspondences are held in the same strict confidence as the initial report, continuing under the umbrella of anonymity.
• Q. What if I want to be identified with my report?
  • There is a section in the report for identifying yourself, if you wish.
• Q. Can I still file a report if I don’t have access to the Internet?
  • Yes. If you don’t have access or are uncomfortable using a computer, you can call your EthicsPoint toll-free hotline 888-242-4877 which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• Q. Is the telephone toll-free hot line confidential and anonymous too?
  • Yes. You will be asked to provide the same information that you would provide in an Internet-based report and an interviewer will type your responses into the EthicsPoint Web site. These reports have the same security and confidentiality measures applied to them during delivery.