Regional Whistleblowing & Incident Management Benchmark Report

Report volume is growing, but varies substantially between regions

Median Reports per 100 Employees reached a four-year high for organizations in all regions in 2025 (setting aside those in South America, where outliers can have outsize influence over a relatively smaller dataset). Growth was uneven across regions, but the increases are a positive signal. More reporting is generally a good thing, showing employees and third parties trust and utilize the internal system for raising concerns of misconduct. 

North American organizations had the greatest median report volume (excluding South America due to outliers) in 2025 at 1.86 Reports per 100 Employees. This record-setting year represented a notable increase from 1.65 in 2022, and a positive break from relatively stable median reporting levels in 2023 and 2024 at 1.78 and 1.75 respectively. 

Following North America were organizations in APAC, with a record median 0.83 Reports per 100 Employees. Europe has seen substantial growth – 0.53 in 2022, and 0.77 in 2025.

Web intake grows in prominence

Our analysis shows distinct differences across regions in the level of activity for different reporting channels, with Web reporting growing as a share of total reports. Organizations based in every region apart from North America showed more than half of reports coming through a web-based channel. North American organizations received about a third of their reports through a web channel.  

The frequency of reports received via Web has increased or remained steady for organizations in each region, including North America, in the past four years. 

It’s clear that organizations in all regions should invest in strong web intake capabilities given the growing digital preferences. However, are organizations outside of North America doing enough to encourage and track reporting made through other channels? As always, it is critical that organizations provide and encourage the use of all channels in order to invite the healthiest level of reporting.

Workplace Conduct leads reporting categories

Allegations under the Risk Category of Workplace Conduct, which include Risk Types such as Workplace Civility, Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation that can significantly impact an organization’s cultural health, represented the greatest median reporting level across all regions in 2025. Levels have generally held steady since 2022. 

Regions show some subtle differences in other categories. For example, APAC-based organizations had the greatest median of respective reporting in the Accounting, Auditing and Financial Reporting, Business Integrity, and Misuse, Misappropriation of Assets Risk categories. This may reflect stronger encouragement to report misconduct that might create greater material risk for the organization. South American organizations had the highest respective median categorized as “Other” – readers with a high level of “Other” reporting may want to review those cases to ensure they are properly categorized.

Anonymous reporting lowest when made to North American organizations

North America-based organizations attained the lowest median Anonymous Reporting Rate among regions in 2025, at 52%. Organizations in Europe, APAC and South America were similar to each other, where an approximate median 6 out of 10 reports did not include the reporter’s name. 

While many factors can influence whether a reporter identifies themselves, a lower Anonymous Reporting Rate may suggest a greater level of trust in the organization’s anti-retaliation policy and practice. This has practical implications, including that named reports generally see shorter investigation timelines.

Case Closure Time up for North American organizations, down for others

Organizations based in North America saw median Case Closure Time increase comparing 2024 and 2025 – from 19 days to 26 days. Despite this increase, organizations in the region still registered a significantly shorter Case Closure Time than elsewhere despite greater median report volume. 

Median closure times decreased year-over-year for organizations in other regions. This was most notable in Europe, where an 18-day decrease put median Case Closure Time at 51 days.

APAC most likely to take No Action for substantiated cases, as Europe embraces Training

Nearly one quarter (24.5%) of substantiated reports made to APAC-based organizations resulted in No Action in 2025, followed by organizations in South America at 18.0%. As prospective reporters will consider a firm’s track record for taking action against misconduct before making an allegation internally, it is important to review whether No Action was indeed warranted. Remember, these are substantiated cases. 

At 12.8% of outcomes, investigations for Europebased organizations were most likely among regions to result in Training for substantiated cases. North American organizations were second, at 9.9%. 

Substantiated cases for South American companies were most likely to result in separation of employment (21.7%), with North American companies close behind (18.2%). Organizations in Europe and APAC were generally similar in a lower frequency of cases resulting in Separation (13% or less).