Organizational Justice and Employment Law Literacy Increase Employee Courage to Report Workplace Violations

Illustration by AI

FORMOSA NEWS

Qurnia Fitriyatinur from IVET University Semarang and Bahrul Fawaid from Wahid Hasyim University Semarang examined the factors influencing employee intentions to report violations (whistleblowing) in the workplace in mid-2026. This research holds high urgency because low employee participation in reporting fraud in Indonesia can threaten organizational sustainability and systematically harm other workers.

Various forms of employment law violations, ranging from administrative fraud and workplace harassment to financial irregularities, are often known by employees but left unreported. This condition occurs because employees experience uncertainty regarding the fairness of the organizational system as well as a lack of legal protection guarantees safeguarding their position as whistleblowers.

This study employed a quantitative approach with a correlational design involving 214 permanent employees from three manufacturing companies in the Central Java region, with a minimum tenure of one year. Sample selection was conducted using purposive sampling. Data collection utilized a Likert-scale questionnaire to measure organizational justice, employment law literacy, and reporting intention variables, which were then analyzed through multiple linear regression statistical testing.

The data analysis yielded several key findings:

• Organizational justice is proven to have a positive and significant effect on the intention to report violations, with a regression coefficient value of 0.341.
• Employment law literacy also shows a positive and significant effect on reporting intention, with a regression coefficient value of 0.298.
• Simultaneously, both variables are able to explain 39.7% of the variance in employee intention to report workplace violations.

The implications of this research indicate that perceptions of fairness in the workplace and legal understanding complement each other in encouraging responsible reporting behavior. Qurnia Fitriyatinur and Bahrul Fawaid emphasized that companies cannot rely solely on formal legal protection systems without improving internal justice climates, or vice versa. Organizations are encouraged to strengthen decision-making transparency, foster fair superior-subordinate interactions, and routinely conduct legal education regarding reporting mechanisms and protection guarantees for whistleblowers in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Author Profiles:

• Qurnia Fitriyatinur: Lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, IVET University, Semarang, Indonesia.
• Bahrul Fawaid: Lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Law, Wahid Hasyim University, Semarang, Indonesia.

Research Source:

• Article Title: Organizational Justice and Employment Law Literacy as Predictors of Employee Whistleblowing Intention: An Integrative Perspective of Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Journal Name: Contemporary Journal of Applied Sciences (CJAS), Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2026
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/cjas.v4i8.222