A revised draft whistleblower protection act, implementing the EU whistleblowing directive, has been published on the website of the Government Legislation Centre. However, the changes introduced are not revolutionary.
Who is a whistleblower?
As a reminder – whistleblowers are individuals who report information obtained in a work-related context about violations of EU law – as set out in Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of whistleblowers. The proposed law imposes an obligation on employers (especially those in the financial sector or with medium and large enterprises) to provide an appropriate level of protection to such persons.
Changes to the draft act on the protection of whistleblowers
Unfortunately, despite the changes to the content of the draft, the legislator has still not responded to all the demands raised at the opinion and consultation stage; the identification of the so-called ‘associated person’ of the person making the report (whistleblower) or assisting him/her, who is subject to special protection against retaliation, is still not regulated. There are also doubts about the definition of the principles of a common policy on the internal reporting procedure within a group of companies. What then did the legislator decide to change in the whistleblower protection act?
- The time for private entities employing more than 250 persons to establish an internal reporting procedure has been extended to 2 months from the entry into force of the new law,
- the determination of whether an entity has failed to establish an internal reporting procedure is to be enforced by the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP),
- the onus of proving that any action taken against whistleblowers is not retaliatory will fall primarily on the employer,
- the deadline for arranging a face-to-face meeting with the whistleblower has been extended to 14 days,
- it has also been clarified that a person who has suffered harm due to a misreporting or disclosure will be able to apply for a
furthermore, the issues of secrecy about the notification and any follow-up action taken about it have been clarified. The legislator has specified that the period of secrecy continues even after the termination of the employment or other legal relationship under which the whistleblower performed activities related to the notification;
This is, of course, only part of the changes that have been made to the bill. Moreover, it is still unclear when this draft will be submitted to Parliament and how smoothly the legislative process will proceed. We will keep you informed of any changes; we encourage you to sign up to our newsletter!