Protection of whistleblowers in your company
What should you know about the implementation of the whistleblower protection directive?
The draft law adopted by the Council of Ministers requires each person for whom at least 50 people perform gainful employment to prepare and implement an internal procedure to allow whistleblowers to report violations of laws and if the entity decides also internal regulations.
It is important to note that the number of 50 people includes:
- employees,
- contractors,
- associates, including those collaborating on b2b (who do not employ workers themselves).
The obligation to enforce relevant national legislation on whistleblower reporting mechanisms itself stems from the EU’s Whistleblower Protection Directive, and as the implementation deadline has long passed, the legislative path of the new law is expected to be fairly quick.
How can ALTO support your business?
Benefiting from years of experience in preparing a range of internal compliance procedures in various industries, experts from ALTO help with:
- verifying whether the company’s existing procedure complies with the new law or creating and implementing a simple and effective procedure, tailored to the specific nature and scope of the organization’s activities;
- updating coexistence of other internal regulations;
- creating provisions concerning the clarification of reported irregularities that comply with corporate governance requirements;
- implementation of electronic reporting channels and their consideration in terms of usefulness in the organization and meeting a requirements of a new act;
- organizing trainings for employees.
Any questions?
What responsibilities companies should prepare for regarding whistleblower protection?
- Providing appropriate channels for whistleblower submissions, such as:
- dedicated person, department or team
- contact box at headquarters or work establishment
- telephone or other online communicator
- email Inbox
- online platform
- through a third party providing notification services
- Protecting the confidentiality of reports and safeguarding whistleblower’s data.
- Providing real protection for the whistleblower against retaliation.
- Preparing and implementing an effective internal procedure for processing applications within the required deadlines.
What are the risks of penalties and liability if the new regulations are not properly implemented?
Sanctions for failing to implement whistleblower protection laws are varied, and include:
- for lack of procedure or its non-compliance with the law – a fine;
- for preventing or obstructing notification – imprisonment for up to 3 years, restriction of liberty or a fine;
- for retaliation against a whistleblower – imprisonment for up to 3 years, restriction of liberty or a fine.
CAUTION: it cannot be ruled out that failure to have the proper procedure in place under certain circumstances may also be considered prevention or obstruction of notification, which carries a higher criminal record.
In order to fully prepare for the new responsibilities, we invite you to contact our specialists, who will guide your company step by step through the entire process of adjustment to the introduced regulations.