Whistleblower Act – New regulations will provide protection for individuals who report or publicly disclose information about legal violations.
The obligation to implement the provisions of the act will rest on entrepreneurs who employ at least 50 people.
This limit includes individuals performing work under service contracts or cooperation agreements, as well as people employed part-time.
The Whistleblower Act, implementing the EU directive on this matter, will come into force on September 25, 2024. Entrepreneurs have until this date to prepare for the new regulations, which introduce important changes in the protection of individuals reporting legal violations.
Whistleblowers – who will be protected?
A whistleblower can be any individual who reports or publicly discloses information about violations of the law related to their work. This applies not only to persons employed under a contract of employment, but also to interns, volunteers or trainees. Proxies, shareholders and board members are also subject to the new regulations.
Signatories will be protected from retaliation from the moment they report or disclose information to the public. This means that once they have reported a violation of the law, they cannot be fired, demoted or otherwise retaliated against for making the report, as long as the information provided is true and constitutes information about a violation of the law. In the event of retaliation, whistleblowers are entitled to compensation.
What violations can be reported?
Violations that can be reported include corruption, public procurement, anti-money laundering, product safety, transportation, environmental protection, consumer protection, personal data and financial market violations.
What does this mean for entrepreneurs?
It means that companies with 50 or more employees must establish internal channels for reporting and following up on violations of the law. For companies operating in the financial, transport or environmental sectors, the obligation applies to all entities, regardless of the number of employees.
Whistleblowers procedure
Entrepreneurs should:
- Develop an internal notification procedure.
- Keep a register of internal notifications.
- Determine an internal organizational unit for receiving notifications.
- Ensure anonymity and protection of whistleblower data by establishing a procedure for dealing with such reports.
- Train employees on the new procedures and their rights.
Penalties for violations of the Law on Whistleblowers
Companies that fail to implement proper procedures or retaliate against whistleblowers may face fines and other sanctions.
Platform for anonymous whistleblowing – Whistleblower software
We offer you specialised software developed by our partner Whistleblower Software, which allows you to receive and process whistleblower reports in both small and large companies. Importantly, the system is easy to use, economical to operate and fully compliant with both the European Whistleblower Directive and the Polish draft legislation.
Read more: https://whistleblowersoftware.com/en
Comprehensiveness – legal assistance and software
In terms of legal assistance, we offer:
- development of regulations for internal notifications,
- development of terms of reference for report takers and follow-up takers, if necessary, also relevant annexes to employment contracts or a model contract,
- Alignment of documents with the current law on Protection of Whistleblowers
- suggested solutions for channels for receiving reports that are established and operated in such a way as to protect the confidentiality of the identity of the person making the report and the third party named in the report, and to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to them,
- Development of a Code of Good Conduct including ethical and legal standards for the proper functioning of the whistleblowing process, in particular the protection of whistleblowers,
- Support in the consultation process with trade unions or employee representatives,
- Support in the implementation and technical organization of the documents developed by the Firm including consultations over a period of 3 months
- Operation of the Whistleblower software – an impartial, external channel for making reports (both for reporting by employees, third parties and other stakeholders), performed by the Law Firm, including in particular:
- keeping records of reports,
- conducting internal investigations – organizing the receipt and verification of reports and follow-up,
- providing feedback to the whistleblower,
- Preparing of quarterly reports on the handling of whistleblowers reports.
Why is it worth it?
- we provide an independent whistleblower system where stakeholders can report violations of law anonymously
- a professional and secure technical solution;
- an experienced and knowledgeable legal team;
- a complete set of documents consisting of guidelines, privacy policy and risk and impact analysis, as well as an internal work process;
- compliance with applicable regulations;
- transparent pricing structure.
Do you have doubts?
If you do not know whether the laws apply to your entity – feel free to contact us and we will answer all your questions.
