Employees in Italy are less likely than the global average to find each of eight ethically questionable practices listed on p9 of the global report acceptable. Compared to 2021 and the 2024 global average, employees in Italy are less likely to say that honesty is practised always or frequently in their organisation.

Employees in Italy are among the least likely to raise concerns about misconduct, the main reason given for this is that they do not believe that corrective action would be taken. Of the 16 countries surveyed, they are among the least likely to be satisfied with outcomes after speaking up about misconduct. They are less likely than the average employee to experience retaliation after speaking up.

Compared to 2021, employees in Italy are more likely to be aware of their organisation providing building blocks of an ethics programme, especially when it comes to a confidential means of reporting misconduct and training on standards of ethical conduct. However, they are among the least likely of the 16 surveyed countries to be aware of these building blocks.

Compared to the global average, employees in Italy have a poorer view of their management’s commitment to ethics and the ability of their organisation to engage with external and internal stakeholders.

Data for Italy were first collected in 2012 as indicated in the global report. The findings in this country-specific report compare 2024 data against 2021 data, the last data point.

 

Organisational culture

  • Employees in Italy are among the least likely of the 16 surveyed countries to find each of eight ethically questionable practices outlined on p9 of the global report to be acceptable. They are less likely than the global average to find each of the practices acceptable (17% vs 20% global average).
  • Over three-quarters of employees in Italy say that honesty is practised always or frequently in their organisation (78%). This figure is below the findings in 2021 (84%) and the percentage of employees who say so globally (84% global average). They are amongst the least likely to say so, alongside employees in the Netherlands (77%).
  • Around one in eight employees in Italy feel pressured to compromise their current organisation’s standards of ethical conduct (13%), remaining consistent with findings in 2021 (12%). In 2024, 15% of employees globally said that they felt pressured. Around a third of employees in Italy who have felt pressured to compromise on ethical standards say that time pressure/unrealistic deadlines (31%) and being asked to take shortcuts (31%) were the main sources of pressure.
  • Around a fifth of employees in Italy reported being aware of conduct by their employer or colleagues that they thought violated either the law or their organisation’s ethical standards in the last year (23%). The figure in 2024 (23%) is not statistically higher than in 2021 (19%), or significantly lower than the 2024 global average (25%).

Speaking up

  • Over half of employees in Italy who were aware of misconduct at work in the last year spoke up about their concerns with management, another appropriate person, or through any other mechanism (55%). This figure is similar to findings in 2021 (54%) but lower than the percentage of employees who say so globally (64% global average). Of the 16 surveyed countries, employees in Italy, Germany (53%), Hong Kong (47%) and Japan (41%) are the least likely to raise their concerns about misconduct.
  • Of all those who were aware of misconduct but did not report it, over a third of them cited a lack of belief that corrective action would be taken (37%) as the key deterrent to speaking up. Notably, around a quarter of them cited fear of jeopardising their job (26%).
  • Of those reporting a concern, around two in five (40%) say that they experienced a form of personal disadvantage or retaliation as a result. This figure is similar to 2021 (43%) and slightly below the 2024 global average (46%).
  • Over half of employees in Italy say they were satisfied with the outcome after raising concerns about misconduct (53%). This figure is higher than in 2021 (48%) but significantly lower than the percentage of employees who say so globally in 2024 (71% global average). Employees in Italy, France (52%) and New Zealand (49%) are the least likely to be satisfied with the outcome after speaking up.

The ethics programme

  • Employees in Italy are less likely than average to say that they are aware of their organisation providing each of four building blocks of an ethics programme. For example, 64% of Italian employees are aware of their organisation providing written standards of ethical business conduct in their organisation, compared to a global average of 71%. They are among the least likely of the 16 surveyed countries to be aware of these building blocks.
  • However, compared to 2021, they are more likely to be aware of their organisation providing each of building blocks. The biggest increases have been recorded in relation to awareness of their organisation providing the means to report misconduct confidentially (51% vs 41% in 2021) and awareness of their organisation providing training on standards of ethical conduct (61% vs 51% in 2021).

Embedding ethics through a supportive environment

  • In Italy, 69% of employees (vs 72% global average) agree that their line manager sets a good example of ethical business behaviour, 67% (vs 68% global average) agree that their line manager explains the importance of honesty and ethics in the work they do and 68% (vs 72% global average) agree that their line manager supports them in following their organisation’s standards of ethical behaviour. While 67% (vs 71% global average) agree that senior management takes ethics seriously in their organisation, 33% (vs 38% global average) of them also agree that their line manager rewards employees who get good results, even if they use practices that are ethically questionable.
  • 73% of employees in Italy (vs 76% global average) agree that their organisation acts responsibly in all its business dealings and 66% (vs 72% global average) that it lives up to its stated policy of social responsibility.
  • Employees in Italy are likely to have a poorer view of how their organisation engages with employees on ethics. They are less likely than the global average to agree that people in their organisation know what is expected of them in terms of ethical behaviour (71% vs 77% global average), and decisions about people are made fairly (60% vs 67% global average). However, they share similar views with the average employee across the 16 surveyed countries that, issues of right and wrong are discussed in staff meetings (61% vs 62% global average) in their organisation.
  • 67% of employees in Italy agree that their organisation disciplines employees who violate its ethical standards. A similar percentage of employees agree globally (65% global average).