A compliance survey your team can answer honestly
Fifteen questions for employees on finding the rules, following them under pressure and raising a concern safely.
- 15questions
- 6 minto complete
- 2 requiredthe rest skippable
- No scorecounts, not a grade
The 15 employee compliance survey questions
A compliance survey asks employees whether they can find the rules that apply to their job, follow them when the work is busy and raise a concern safely. It measures the compliance program, never an individual. These fifteen questions open in the online questionnaire creator, ready for your policy names.
Who is answering
Two broad cuts, so results split by work type and by level.
- Which of these is closest to the kind of work you do?broad work types keep a small department from standing out.
- Do you manage people?
Knowing the rules
Whether the rulebook can be found, read and applied.
- I know where to find the rules that apply to my job.a low answer points at where the policies are kept.
- The rules that apply to my job are written in language I can follow.
- The compliance training I did in the last year used situations I actually meet in my job.about the situations in the course; completion is already on record.
Asking and raising
Who people ask first, and how safe it feels to speak up.
- I know who to go to first when I am unsure whether something is allowed.
- I know at least one way to raise a concern that does not go through my own manager.checks that people know the hotline or another reporting route.[1]
- I could raise a concern without it being held against me.asks what the person expects, so nobody describes an incident.
- If somebody here raised a concern, I believe it would be looked into.worded about a colleague, so everyone can answer it.
Pressure and example
What happens to the rules in a busy week.
- When deadlines get tight in my area, the rules still get followed.
- The managers I see day to day work the way they ask everyone else to work.about the managers people see daily, the layer you can coach.
- In the last 12 months, how often have you had to guess whether something was allowed?keep the five options identical between runs.
Where it breaks, in their words
One diagnostic choice, then two open answers.
- Which of these makes it hardest to follow the rules in your job?each blocker has its own owner, from the policy library to deadlines.
- Describe one rule or process that is hard to follow in your job, and what makes it hard. Please do not name anyone.
- What one change would make it easier to do the right thing in your job?
How to use this compliance survey
Send it to every employee the policies cover, managers included: once as a baseline, then again after you change a policy, a course or a reporting route. No question asks for a name, and the open answers ask people to leave names out.
Read each rating as the share who picked 4 or 5, split by questions 1 and 2. Question 13 names the fix: a rule nobody can find, one that does not fit the work, too little time or mixed instructions. Compare questions 8 and 9 between managers and their teams. Where question 5 scores low, a training needs survey shows which course to rework. Whether one named control ran is a job for the internal control questionnaire.
Compliance survey FAQ
What are good employee compliance survey questions?
Ones every employee can answer about their own job: where the rules are, who to ask first and whether speaking up feels safe. Federal prosecutors ask whether a company tests that employees know the hotline and feel comfortable using it.[1]
How does a compliance survey show program effectiveness?
It shows whether the program reaches the people it covers. The Department of Justice notes that some companies survey employees to gauge the compliance culture and evaluate the strength of controls.[1] Repeat the same items and the change is your evidence.
How often should you run a compliance program survey?
Once for a baseline, then after each change to a policy, a course or a reporting route, with the wording kept identical. After a serious incident, the crisis management survey reviews the response itself.
Michael Hodge, survey methodology · Updated 2 October 2026 · How templates are reviewed
Sources (1)
- U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (updated September 2024), sections I.D and III.A. justice.gov
Find out where the rules are hard to follow
Fifteen questions, about six minutes, two required. Open them and add your policy names.
Use this template