Phoenix, AZ, and London, UK – April 9, 2024

Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, today announced a partnership with Vault Platform, an impact-led technology firm providing digital solutions to address the problem of unreported misconduct and ESG violations in the workplace.

As part of the initiative, Ethisphere will provide guidance and how-to investigations content to enable organizations to better address corporate misconduct investigations and case management. This will be embedded within Vault’s Active Integrity platform, which equips organizations with the tools to better conduct corporate investigations and detect early patterns of misconduct.

“We are excited to be working with Vault Platform – we believe that their technology is best-in-class and provides an experience that is powerful for both those reporting misconduct and those who are managing the process,” stated Erica Salmon Byrne, Chief Strategist and Executive Chair at Ethisphere.

“We are delighted to contribute to a platform that supports a robust speak up culture, and to share the benefits of this technology with our Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) community.”

“For us at Vault Platform, the partnership with Ethisphere felt like a very natural step. After all, we’re the Active Integrity platform, the technology which underpins the most successful and intentional Ethics & Compliance programs worldwide, and Ethisphere works with leading organizations focused on business integrity through BELA and other initiatives,” said Neta Meidav, co-founder & CEO at Vault Platform.

“Our customers seek to enhance internal reporting and disclosures, bring up the quality of corporate investigations through modern case management, drive automation through AI, and benefit from granular insights and data into their organization’s Ethics performance.

“The partnership with Ethisphere will accelerate the access to this technology by BELA members and offer Vault’s customers access to best-in-class content on investigations, resolution process and other data.” 

About Ethisphere
Ethisphere® is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). For further information, please visit https://ethisphere.com.

About Vault

Vault Platform is the Active Integrity leader, modernizing Speak Up programs with a digital, AI-enabled platform for Speak Up, investigations, and data reporting. As the operating system for corporate integrity, Vault acts as a control center for managing misconduct reporting, investigations, and built-in analytics, all from one central solution that builds a Speak Up culture across the business. Employees safely and privately report issues and questions from multiple easy-to-access intake channels, including a mobile app with named, anonymous and GoTogether reporting. Compliance and HR teams are equipped to collaborate centrally, securely share documents, and simplify their data reporting. 

###

Ethisphere Media Contact:

Anne Walker

Anne.Walker@Ethisphere.com

Vault Platform Media Contact:

James Nadal

james.nadal@vaultplatform.com

The post Ethisphere Announces Partnership with Vault Platform appeared first on Vault.

Nominations are now closed and honorees will be notified in early February.

The post Are you a 2024 Integrity Innovator? appeared first on Vault.

The post eToro Strengthens Speak-Up Culture by Partnering with Vault Platform appeared first on Vault.

Lift Our Voices is a nonprofit initiative (started by Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky) dedicated to creating positive, systemic change in the US workplace by eradicating the laws and business practices that prevent employees from disclosing toxic workplace conditions. They give a voice to those silenced by arbitration clauses and NDAs, raising public awareness through advocacy and education.

Neta Meidav, CEO of Vault Platform, said: “Lift Our Voices support those people silenced by NDAs and arbitration clauses, raising public awareness through advocacy and education. It’s crucial that mission-aligned organizations at the forefront of the workplace revolution come together and make our voices heard, which is why this partnership is so close to my heart.

“At Vault, we’re on a mission to change the world of work by giving companies and their employees a safe place to record, report and resolve misconduct in the most human, confidential, efficient, and legally sound way possible. We’re all passionate about speak-up culture and believe the use of NDAs and arbitration clauses are simply a way for individuals and companies to skate around systemic issues that are harming the public and their own employees.”

ENDS

About Vault Platform

Vault Platform is pioneering “TrustTech,” a new category of workplace technology. Designed to enable risk detection, build a culture where it is safe to Speak Up, and drive operational efficiencies, the Vault products create a confidential space for employees and third parties to submit records of misconduct they experience or witness. With an enterprise-grade case management hub and insights dashboard, Vault Platform is key to supporting the productive growth of enterprise businesses. Vault was founded in 2018 and is based in London, UK with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Tel Aviv, Israel. For more information, visit

www.vaultplatform.com 

About Lift Our Voices

Lift Our Voices (LOV) was launched in December 2019 to create positive, systemic change in American workplaces through the eradication of forced arbitration clauses and nondisclosure agreements for toxic workplace issues. Created and launched by Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, LOV’s mission is to protect American workers by giving those in toxic work environments the freedom to speak freely about their workplace experiences and free them from the laws and business practices that prevent employees from publicly discussing toxic workplace conditions.

https://www.liftourvoices.org/

The post Vault Platform and Lift our Voices Join Forces appeared first on Vault.

The post Vault Platform secures $8.2 million in Series A funding. appeared first on Vault.

Vault Platform welcomes the news of OneTrust’s acquisition of Convercent as it highlights the shift towards governance, ethics and compliance, GRC, risk management, and ESG as a competitive advantage for any successful enterprise. 

Vault Platform continues to disrupt and shape the future of GRC, pioneering ‘TrustTech’ a new and emerging category within their space. The end to end solution is removing the barriers and stigma associated with reporting workplace misconduct. It is shaping the future of misconduct reporting, resolution, policy management and mitigation of risk, enabling organisations to build on both trust and culture from within, whilst reducing risk and tracking compliance. 

Vault Platform has a simple mission; To keep companies and their employees safe, by giving them a place to record, report and resolve misconduct in the most human, technically secure and efficient way possible. 

Fundamental design flaws in the legacy reporting tools such as hotlines and email boxes do not encourage employees to Speak Up, despite their being best intentions within the organisation. 

For ethics and compliance professionals, Vault Platform is a comprehensive reporting and case management tool designed to resolve incidents effectively and rapidly. The innovative technology reduces investigation timelines by as much as 80%. Aggregated case data delivers insights that can be an indicator of the ethical health of any organisation and the levels of compliance within. The Vault app increases accessibility to employees and normalizes incident reporting, solving the problem of gathering data and reducing the time to investigate significantly.

Vault Platform also provides organisations with the insights to mitigate risk through comprehensive analytics and reports. The solution delivers a detailed snapshot of cultural and ethical health, providing visibility in order to direct initiatives such as training, policy development and implementation. Vault Platform really does provide real-world return on investment, shaping the future of reporting, recording and resolving misconduct. 

The post Market consolidation highlights importance of trust as a competitive advantage appeared first on Vault.

March 16, 2021, Bristol, UK – OVO Energy, the UK’s largest independent energy supplier, has partnered with workplace misconduct reporting and resolution solution Vault Platform to give employees the most modern way to Speak Up about ethical concerns directly to the company. 

In partnering with Vault Platform, OVO is evolving its internal ‘open door policy’ misconduct reporting system to the world’s most advanced and effective tech solution that puts the human in control.

Vault Platform provides OVO employees two routes to Speak Up – anonymously and in-name – where even anonymous users can provide additional information directly into the investigation without revealing their identity.

The Resolution Hub gives the Compliance and People teams a single system of record and one place from which to manage incoming reports and resolve investigations efficiently.

“We chose Vault as we required a modern and accessible misconduct reporting solution to support our people. By using Vault we have brought our processes up to date and given our people the opportunity to Speak Up in an open and inclusive environment”, said William Randle, Director of Risk & Compliance, OVO Energy.

Neta Meidav, CEO of Vault Platform, said: “As the UK’s largest independent energy supplier OVO is exactly the progressive kind of brand we love to see implementing our advanced solution for increased ethics, better governance, and supporting their diversity & inclusion efforts.”

The post OVO Energy powers up employees with misconduct reporting app appeared first on Vault.

Persons who work for a public or private organisation or are in contact with such an organisation in the context of their work-related activities are often the first to know about threats or harm to the public interest which arise in that context. 

By reporting breaches of Union law that are harmful to the public interest, such persons act as ‘whistleblowers’ and thereby play a key role in exposing and preventing such breaches and in safeguarding the welfare of society. 

However, potential whistleblowers, whether reporting internally to stakeholders within their organisation or to an external body such as a regulator or the Ombudsman, are often discouraged from reporting their concerns or suspicions for fear of retaliation. 

In this context, the importance of providing balanced and effective whistleblower protection is increasingly acknowledged at both Union and international level.

On 7 October 2019, the Council of Ministers of the EU adopted the European Union’s Directive for the protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law (the “EU Whistleblower Directive”), which must be implemented in the EU member states no later than 17 December 2021.

According to article 1, the purpose of the Directive is to enhance the enforcement of Union law and policies in specific areas by laying down common minimum standards providing for a high level of protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law.

December 2021 is now months away and international businesses (particularly those with operations in a large number of EU jurisdictions, where the time needed to agree changes to policies and then translate these can be significant) can avoid a last-minute rush to compliance by preparing now to:

• Review their standards of business conduct and reporting arrangements, including internal whistleblower solutions or reporting systems, to ensure compliance with the Whistleblowing Directive and continued compliance with GDPR; and
• Implement internal whistleblowing policies (or adapt their existing policies to ensure they take account of the new legislation).

The WB Directive obliges both companies (with more than 250 employees from 2021 and more than 50 employees from 2023) and authorities in general to introduce whistleblower schemes, which must be available to all employees in the company/authority. With the new WB Directive, it is also possible that the scheme also influences external partners, e.g. clients or consultants. 

Establishing a whistleblower scheme

The scheme can be established in various ways, i.e. in writing and submit reports by post, by physical complaint box(es), or through an online platform, whether it be on an intranet or internet platform, or to report orally, by telephone hotline or other voice messaging system, or both. 

The online platform is expected to be the most common and effective way of implementing the requirement for a whistleblower scheme. According to the WB Directive premise (33):

“Reporting persons normally feel more at ease reporting internally, unless they have reasons to report externally. Empirical studies show that the majority of whistle-blowers tend to report internally, within the organisation in which they work. Internal reporting is also the best way to get information to the persons who can contribute to the early and effective resolution of risks to the public interest (…) “

To embrace this opportunity inside Europe, an online platform (as well as any other scheme established) must follow the rules and requirements laid down in the WB Directive and in relation to the processing of data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The WB Directive sets up requirements for the whistleblower scheme to be put in place. Some of these are mandatory and must – as a minimum – be implemented in the specific jurisdiction and thus in the system used. Some of these are, however, also considered as guidelines, but recommended to be implemented in the system.

This whitepaper has been prepared by Vault Platform, a digital platform for misconduct reporting and resolution in the workplace, and the law firm Bird & Bird.

The aim is to inform HR, Compliance and Legal professionals about the requirements under the upcoming WB Directive, and to outline how Vault Platform enables public and private companies to meet these key regulatory requirements in relation to the establishment of an internal reporting platform.

Topics covered  in this whitepaper include:

•       An overall description of the WB Directive
•       A description of the process through which the reporting takes place and actions being taken etc.
•       How Vault Platform enables compliance with the various requirements under the WB Directive
•       How Vault Platform deals with the rights of individuals who report via the  Platform

At the conclusion of this whitepaper, the reader will have a good overview of all important aspects of the Whistleblower Directive, and considerations when using a digital platform for compliance purposes, such as Vault Platform. 

The paper can be downloaded here.

The post Compliance with the EU Directive on whistleblowing and other legal considerations related to misconduct reporting appeared first on Vault.

The post CDC Foundation introduces app to enhance ethics and empower employees to Speak Up appeared first on Vault.

Monday, September 28, 2020 – After a rigorous selection process involving hundreds of companies across the globe, Vault Platform has been selected to join 14 growth-stage ventures in the second Unreasonable FUTURE program. Unreasonable FUTURE is a unique multi-year collaboration between Fossil Foundation, Pearson, Accenture and Unreasonable Group, bringing together disruptive innovators and entrepreneurs to design a future in which people and technology work side-by-side to solve workplace challenges and unlock human potential everywhere.

The second annual cohort of ventures will include companies creating the future of learning and up-skilling, so underserved youth and those whose jobs are being replaced by technology will find pathways to new opportunities in the digital era. The portfolio also includes entrepreneurs using disruptive technologies to maximize human potential in the workplace of tomorrow. By bringing them together, the goal is to rewrite the narrative of what it means for all humans to thrive in a new, more equitable economy.

Vault Platform exists because there is a growing trust gap between employees and employers. Black Lives Matter shows us that discrimination and racism are still rife at work and the MeToo movement revealed that sexual harassment is still commonplace. Inequality and discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation persist, costing companies millions every year settling the few court cases that see daylight. More companies lose billions every year due to other unethical behaviors such as fraud, bribery, and corruption.

Misconduct in its many forms is everywhere and Vault Platform is pioneering a new category of workplace technology – TrustTech – dedicated to solving this major problem for enterprise compliance, risk, and HR. Designed to enable a culture where it is safe to Speak Up, the Vault app creates a confidential space for employees to submit records of misconduct they experience or witness.

With an enterprise-grade case management hub and insights dashboard, Vault Platform is key to driving out harmful workplace behaviors from discrimination and harassment through fraud and corruption. This mitigates significant financial, reputational, and resource risks for any organization.

“The pandemic has forced enterprises to fundamentally change the way they do business, accelerating existing trends in remote working, fast-tracking the adoption of AI, and changing the employer-employee relationship.  This combined with the recent social disruptions, demanding for amongst other things a more equitable diverse workforce, are issues which need to be addressed more urgently than ever before.” Daniel Epstein, founder and CEO of Unreasonable Group said. “Unreasonable FUTURE is bringing together a hand-picked portfolio of entrepreneurs leveraging advanced technologies to ensure future generations thrive in the new economy. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to support these outstanding ventures to help design a future that will work for everyone.”

“About 75% of workplace misconduct is unreported and that number is getting bigger as the pandemic increases pressure on people to ignore bad behavior. But a toxic work environment can quickly tear a company apart and it’s increasingly clear behaving ethically is good for business. Employees, governments, and customers are demanding integrity from the brands they work for and buy from,” said Neta Meidav, CEO and co-founder, Vault Platform.

“Vault Platform is showing companies they don’t have to rely on legacy systems that leave them blind to misbehavior and can establish a working environment that promotes zero tolerance to misconduct.”

Unreasonable Group

Unreasonable envisions a world in which the most valuable and influential companies are those solving humanity’s most pressing challenges. Through running worldwide immersive programs for growth-stage entrepreneurs, unique partnerships with multinationals, a globally-oriented private equity fund, an extensive international community of serial business leaders as mentors, and advanced storytelling and media activities, Unreasonable is designed to exclusively support entrepreneurs positioned to bend history in the right direction. Currently, Unreasonable works with 162 entrepreneurs who support the jobs of more than 170,000 people and who are actively impacting the lives of over 260 million individuals across more than 180 countries. They have raised over $2.3 billion dollars in funding and generated more than $1.8 billion in revenue. For more, visit www.unreasonablegroup.com.

The post Vault Platform Selected for Unreasonable FUTURE, Annual Initiative to Help Redesign Workplaces of Tomorrow appeared first on Vault.