Outsiders Looking in: Do Non-permanent Workers Whistleblow?

Abstract

Literature suggests external whistleblowing is an effective tool in fraud discovery. Further, research has identified workplace environment factors that influence the decision of traditional, permanent, full-time (i.e. non-contingent) workers to whistleblow. Much less is known about the factors that influence whistleblowing for contingent (temporary, on-call, or contract company) workers. As a result, we investigate and compare the whistleblowing intentions of 146 non-contingent and contingent workers in the United States. We find that contingent workers are significantly less likely to whistleblow than non-contingent workers. Some of these differences in whistleblowing intentions appear to be due to feelings of powerlessness, organizational citizenship behavior, and organizational commitment that workers have in relation to their organizations. As a result, whistleblower protection laws designed to encourage all employees to whistleblow may be insufficient to overcome the fears and attitudes unique to the contingent worker community. We offer future research pathways, implications for practice, and practical suggestions to improve whistleblowing.