AN OVERWHELMING majority of workers would blow the whistle on workmates suspected of diddling their employer.

The YouGov survey for KPMG Forensic in the South of England revealed that 84 per cent would report their colleagues to bosses for major incidents of fraud, while 45 per cent would report them for minor incidents such as stealing office stationery.

This is a marked change in the pattern of employee behaviour, according to Paul Tombleson, director at KPMG Forensic.

He said: "In the past, we've found that employees have felt less inclined to report obvious incidents of fraud due to their unwillingness to turn-in their fellow employees, but now, as our survey shows, there has been a significant turn-around.

"The impact that some of the recent corporate failures have had on people's lives which has often resulted in huge numbers of job losses, may have led to a significant change of attitude towards fraud in the workplace.

"People now recognise that it is not a victimless crime and that those who are responsible should be reported and then held to account for their actions."

The survey also found that 94 per cent of respondents felt that accounts manipulation was unacceptable or that they felt uneasy about it.

The survey found that 42 per cent of respondents admitted to having lied to cover up for mistakes.

Almost half (49 per cent) think that there should be some restriction on personal e-mail at work, and nearly a third of those surveyed (27 per cent) thought personal e-mail should be completely prohibited within the workplace.

Furthermore, a high percentage (49 per cent) think employers have the right to monitor staff e-mails, an area over which companies have been sensitive to in the past as it raises concerns over employee privacy.

Although over half (64 per cent) said it was totally unacceptable for profits to be dishonestly increased in accounting books, this attitude becomes more lenient for lower levels of fraud.

Just over 1,800 adults were interviewed in the survey.