Guide

Handler exclusion and conflicts of interest

What happens when the person who would usually receive the report is the subject of it.

Product behaviour described as of 2 November 2026.

Handler exclusion in Vox means the reporter sees the named handlers before sending and can exclude anyone, including a manager. An excluded handler cannot open that case, and an admin cannot put them back on it. If nobody remains who can read the report and no alternative recipient was set, the report is not accepted.

Why does handler exclusion matter?

Speak-up fails when the only inbox belongs to the person being reported. Exclusion is a conflict-of-interest control that sits with the reporter at the moment of submission, not only with HR after the fact.

How does exclusion work in Vox?

  1. The organisation names handlers during setup.
  2. Before sending, the reporter sees those names and can exclude one or more people.
  3. The report is encrypted only to remaining permitted recipients (and the reporter’s case key).
  4. An excluded person cannot decrypt or open the case.

What is an alternative recipient?

At setup, an organisation can choose an alternative recipient route so a report is not stranded if every default handler is excluded. Without that route, a report with nobody left to read it is rejected.

What exclusion does not do

  • It does not hide the existence of a case from organisational meta-processes outside Vox.
  • It does not stop someone guessing they were excluded if facts are unique.
  • It does not replace investigation policy or legal advice.

See the product overview, or how encryption enforces who can read a case.

See product Encryption guide