Independence and privacy · Autessa Ethics Hotline
Independent ethics committee
Autessa Ethics Hotline sends reports only to a named ethics committee. HR roles and company admins do not see hotline reports unless they are on the committee, members manage the committee themselves with every change logged and emailed, and the workspace warns until at least two members are active so no report depends on a single person.
Why it matters
A hotline that reports to the wrong people isn’t safe to use
If hotline reports flow to whoever holds an HR or admin role, an employee reporting their own HR partner, or an executive, has nowhere to go. Independence is what makes a speak-up channel credible. Ethics Hotline makes the committee an explicit list of people, separate from every other role in your company.
What you get
- A named list of members, each with a work email and the display name reporters see.
- Independent of HR roles and company admins: only committee members can open the workspace.
- The first member is claimed by a company admin during setup, when nobody is on the committee yet.
- A warning until at least two members are active, so a report about one can still reach another.
- Members can be made inactive without losing their past actions in the log.
- Each member chooses whether they get case emails.
- Every committee change is logged and emailed to the committee.
- Non-members who open the workspace see a polite “This is only for the ethics committee” page.
How it works
How does independent ethics committee work?
Claim the first seat
After setup, a company admin joins as the first member and chooses the name reporters will see.
Add at least one more member
In Settings, add by work email; the person must already be in your company on Autessa.
Choose display names and emails
Reporters see display names only when choosing who to leave out. Emails are never shown to them.
Keep it current
Edit, deactivate or reactivate members. The committee is emailed about every change.
Every option
Committee member fields
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Work email | The address they sign in to Autessa with. Can’t be changed after adding. |
| Name shown to reporters | Up to 80 characters; shown on the hotline’s “leave out” list. |
| Active | Inactive members can’t open the workspace and get no emails. Their history stays in the log. |
| Email me about cases | New reports and reporter messages, never with report details. |
| Added and added by | Shown in the committee table for each member. |
Permissions
Who can do what?
The hotline’s access rules are enforced on the server for every request, not just hidden in the interface.
| Who | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Ethics committee member | Open the workspace, work every case that doesn’t leave them out, and add, edit or deactivate members and settings. |
| Company admin who is not on the committee | Claim the first seat when the committee is empty. Otherwise they see the “only for the ethics committee” page. |
| Other employees | Use the public hotline like anyone else. |
Connected
How it connects to the rest of the hotline
Ethics Hotline feature
Leave out committee members
Reporters see display names so they can exclude anyone involved.
Ethics Hotline feature
Access log
Every committee change is an entry.
Ethics Hotline feature
Guided setup
Where the first member is claimed.
Autessa product
Autessa Homebase
Your people directory; committee members are people already in your company.
FAQ
Questions about independent ethics committee
Who receives ethics hotline reports?
Only the people named on your ethics committee, minus anyone the reporter left out. HR roles and company admins do not receive reports unless they are committee members.
How many people should be on an ethics committee?
At least two. The workspace warns you until two members are active, because a report about one member must still be able to reach someone else.
Who can change the committee?
Any active committee member. Every change is recorded in the access log and emailed to the committee, so changes can’t happen quietly.
What do reporters see about committee members?
Only their display names, on the step where they can choose who should not see their report. Email addresses are never shown.
100% customizable, code and all
Make Autessa Ethics Hotline fully your own.
Use it out of the box, then change anything. Ask Autobot, Autessa’s AI builder, for a new field, screen, report, workflow or agent and it builds it into your copy of the app. Or open the code and edit it yourself. Nothing is locked: the app, its data and its code are yours.
Start free and make it yours