The San Joaquin County Whistleblower Hotline, EthicsPoint, has been established as a means to confidentially report improper and inappropriate activities within the County organization. The Hotline phone and online reporting form is available for reporting allegations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Hotline is the reporting and communication method of the San Joaquin County Whistleblower Program, which is maintained by the Internal Audit Division of the Auditor-Controller's Office.
The County has contracted with an independent third-party provider, NAVEX, for the receipt of calls and online reports, which allows for fully anonymous reporting. All cases will be reviewed by the Internal Audit Division. Any case regarding any officer or employee of the Auditor-Controller's Office will be referred by the third-party hotline provider directly to County Counsel for investigation.
The Hotline only accepts reports of allegations of fraud, waste or abuse committed against the County government by Elected Officials, Department Heads, County Managers, employees, as well as volunteers, committee members, consultants, vendors, contractors, outside agencies, and/or any other parties with a business relationship with San Joaquin County. All other allegations, including incidents committed against outside organizations, should be directed to the appropriate resource, such as the outside organization's hotline or governing body. For allegations of Discrimination, Retaliation, or Harassment by County employees, please contact one of the following: the Division or Department head, the Human Resources Director or his/her designee, or the County Executive Officer or his/her designee. The Human Resources Department is required to investigate these allegations per County policy. Internal Audits staff will not provide further follow-up regarding these allegations.
Common examples of what to report include:
To report other types of fraud, waste or abuse, see the listing below for other hotlines or agencies.
Purposeful misrepresentation of reporting allegations may be construed as a malicious act. Allegations made frivolously, in bad faith or without factual basis may constitute defamation and may be legally actionable.
For County employees, malicious reporting may result in disciplinary action in accordance with County policies.
The law in California protects employees from retaliatory or adverse personnel action for disclosing certain information including, but not limited to, violations of laws and suspected acts of gross mismanagement or gross waste of public funds. These protections are detailed in Sections 1102.5 and 98.6 of the California Labor Code and 8547.1 of the California Government Code. County employees can choose to remain anonymous or provide their name. Confidentiality is the highest priority within the Whistleblower Program and all steps will be taken to ensure the identity remains confidential to the extent allowed by the law. The Hotline allows for the reporting party to follow-up on the status of the case by either calling the toll-free hotline or logging into the web reporting portal.
Please ensure you have the following information prior to contacting the hotline: