Welcome to Ethics
AxisSynapse Ethics is the integrity reporting module — the single intake surface for concerns the workspace's regular channels aren't designed to handle: financial fraud, accounting irregularities, bribery, code-of-conduct violations by senior staff, retaliation against earlier reporters, and other matters that benefit from a confidential, independent path.
TL;DR — Open Ethics → Active reports for the case queue. Employees file from
/ethics/report-a-concern(anonymous by default). Reports route to the assigned ethics admin or — for sensitive matters — directly to the audit committee. Every report carries a confidential two-way comms thread so the reporter can add information without revealing identity.
What the module is for
The Ethics module is not a replacement for EEO, ELR, HR, or a manager conversation. It exists for the matters those channels cannot handle confidentially or independently:
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| Financial / accounting misconduct | Fraud, misstated financials, improper revenue recognition. | Sarbanes-Oxley § 806-protected. Routes to audit committee on intake. |
| Bribery / corruption | FCPA, UK Bribery Act, anti-corruption matters. | Routes to compliance leadership + audit committee. |
| Senior-leader code-of-conduct | Allegations against executives, board members, or HR/legal staff. | Default channels create conflict-of-interest; the alternate intake path applies. |
| Retaliation | Adverse action against an earlier reporter or witness. | Cross-references the prior report; retaliation triggers heightened protections. |
| Antitrust + market-conduct | Price-fixing, market allocation, bid rigging. | Routes to legal + compliance leadership. |
| Healthcare / safety / environmental violations | OSHA, EPA, FDA, state-equivalent matters. | May trigger specific statutory reporting timelines depending on jurisdiction + industry. |
What the module is not for
- Discrimination / harassment / accommodation matters belong in EEO. The module routes them there automatically when triage identifies the category — but the reporter receives the same confidentiality and anti-retaliation protections as on any ethics report.
- Workplace policy disputes (grievances, schedule issues, manager conflicts) belong in HR / ELR.
- General product feedback belongs in your support channels.
The intake form is honest about this on submission; reporters whose matter belongs elsewhere are routed without losing protections.
How a report progresses
| Field | What it does | Accepted values / default |
|---|---|---|
| Intake | Report received from `/ethics/report-a-concern`, hotline, email, or kiosk. | Anonymous by default; reporter may add identity if they choose. A reporter ID + access code is issued for the confidential comms thread. |
| Triage | Ethics admin classifies the matter. | Routes to the right reviewer: ethics admin / audit committee / EEO / legal / compliance. Re-routes preserve protections. |
| Investigation | Fact-finding, often shared with [ELR investigations](/elr/investigations) or an outside investigator. | Witness interviews, document evidence, findings memo. Reporter-identity firewall preserved. |
| Determination + remedy | Substantiated / unsubstantiated / inconclusive + the action taken. | If the original allegation involved financial misconduct, the audit committee is notified. |
| Reporter feedback | Reporter is notified through the confidential thread. | Reporter learns the matter is resolved; details are scoped to what the law permits sharing. |
Confidentiality and anonymity
- Anonymous reports carry full investigation weight; lack of reporter identity is not a basis for de-prioritization. (The classic objection that anonymous reports can't be investigated is largely false: independent evidence often confirms enough to proceed.)
- Identified reports include the reporter's identity, but identity is masked from the investigation team until the reporter explicitly waives.
- The confidential thread uses a one-way code: investigators post questions, the reporter (anonymous or named) posts responses by entering their access code. Neither party sees direct contact info for the other.
- Retaliation protection is automatic on every report: any adverse action against the reporter within a defined window (workspace-configurable, typically 12 months) is flagged for review.
Audit committee channel
For matters that touch the workspace's financial reporting or implicate senior leadership, reports route to the audit committee directly, bypassing the ethics admin. This is the SOX § 301 / NYSE / NASDAQ listed-company structural requirement, but the workspace makes the channel available even where not statutorily required because it's the right structure.
The audit-committee channel:
- Routes reports without the ethics admin reading them first.
- Logs the receipt + acknowledgement to the committee chair.
- Preserves the confidential reporter thread.
- Tracks the committee's disposition + close.
Common gotchas
- "A manager is asking who filed a report." Anti-retaliation protections apply; the manager's question is itself reportable. Don't speculate or share identity.
- "The reporter is also subject of a different matter." Both reports stay open. A reporter's own conduct can be investigated independently — but the report they filed gets the same protection as any other.
- "The hotline call needs translation." The intake supports a
growing locale list; the intake form on
/ethics/report-a-concerntranslates automatically. Hotline calls go to a third-party multilingual service. - "We received a deliberately false report." False reports made in bad faith can themselves be misconduct — but the bar is high. Document the basis for the bad-faith finding carefully; don't treat unsubstantiated reports as automatically bad-faith.
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