Time Inc. pushes workers to sell out colleagues

Time Inc. is looking for a few good rats.

No, not the creepy crawler type but the employee turning in fellow employee type.

Insiders at the giant publisher were surprised in recent days to see posters in their offices exhorting staffers to turn in colleagues they suspected of fraud, bribery or harassment.

At least one of the posters featured words in a handwriting font that asked employees to be on the lookout for colleagues padding their expense reports.

“John took his wife to dinner and charged it to the company as a client meal,” the eye-catching poster proclaims.

Then right below it reads:

“Fraud. Bribery. Harassment.”

“Our integrity starts with you. One quick anonymous phone call keeps Time Inc. the workplace you deserve.”

Then in bold type worthy of a Sports Illustrated World Series Special Editon: CALL THE ETHICS HOTLINE TODAY AT: 1-855-294-4583.

“With all the problems the company has today, this is what they are spending time on?” one Time veteran told Media Ink. “They must have had meetings about this and printed up posters.”

The insider said the posters are hung, ironically, in areas where lower-level staff members frequently gather.

“They are not the people who are guilty of this kind of offense,” he chirped.

Time Inc. was once a rollicking place where padding expense reports was kind of a sport for entitled publishers, editors and star writers.

There still circulates the tale, never proven, of a top editor who hid his wife’s $10,000 mink coat on an expense report — disguised as drinks and dinners with clients.

And one SI golf writer in the days of yore would write off a new set of golf clubs that he’d donate to a caddy rather than lug his own set back home after covering a golf tournament in Britain.

But, the veteran said, “clearly they are looking for every nickel and dime these days.”

Media Ink called the hotline and was told via a recorded announcement that the service was outsourced to a third party firm, Navex Global, which promises it will protect your identify if you want to squeal on colleagues.

When we finally reached a person and asked if she had gotten a lot of calls, she responded, “I can’t give you that information, sir.”

Time Inc. rotates “different messaging on screens throughout the company, reminding employees about ethics, integrity and compliance, the same as every public company does,” a spokeswoman said.