Annual Notification to Employees
State agencies have two main ongoing responsibilities with regard to the Whistleblower Protection Act (the "Act"). First, under California Government Code section 8548.2, each state agency must print notices distributed by the California State Auditor containing information concerning the Act and post the notices in locations where other employee notices are maintained. Second, under Government Code section 8548.3 each state agency annually must send the information contained in the notice by electronic mail to all of its employees. Every year, the State Auditor issues an updated notification in the form of a poster, memorandum for distribution to agency employees, and notification to departments to facilitate compliance with these responsibilities. The poster (also available in letter size), brochure, and compliance checklist may be downloaded here. We also have an accessible HTML version of the Whistleblower poster and brochure.
In addition, under section 20080 of the State Administrative Manual, state entities must notify the State Auditor's Office and the Department of Finance of all cases of actual or suspected fraud, defalcation, theft, or other irregularities. The notification should be in writing and provided not later than the first business day following the discovery of any such incident.
