The Pinkerton service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The firm is experienced at handling calls and has a good record in protecting confidentiality, says Van Mill. They ve done a good job for us. It has been estimated that a company hotline will draw annually between 20 and 23 calls for every 1,000 employees. That is generally on a par with Howmet s experience, says Van Mill.
Calls run the gamut.
Part of the adventure of the ethics role is not knowing what the call will be. Even in pure HR issues, the ethics office doesn t wash its hands of the matter completely. There is a direct correlation between the amount of ethics training activity conducted and the number of calls to the AlertLine, observes Van Mill. For example, an employee may call Van Mill and report that he has the opportunity to do some extra work on his own time. Hospitals, for instance, must be very careful about how they bill Medicare payments.