WHISPLITTER PROTECTION – NEW OBLIGATIONS HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE PROVISIONS ON WHISPLITTER PROTECTION?

Do you employ more than 50 people under employment contracts and mandate contracts?

Are you the manager/director of an organizational unit of a commune or district with more than 10,000 inhabitants?

Implement whistleblower procedures and protect yourself from liability!

Who has to implement the regulations?

According to Article 23 paragraph 1 of the Whistleblower Protection Act, the regulations must be implemented by:

1) any legal entity (sole proprietorship, company, cooperative, etc.) for which at least 50 persons perform gainful work as of 1 January or 1 July of a given year.When assessing how many people perform work, one should take into account those employed under an employment contract (converted into full-time equivalents) and those performing paid work on a basis other than an employment relationship (e.g. under a civil law contract).

2) any organizational unit of local government units, if a given commune or district has at least 10,000 inhabitants.

• In other words, the local government units that must implement the regulations will be all organizational units (branches, plants), auxiliary units and legal entities created by local government units (including municipal and district companies, foundations, unions).
• Important! The employee number threshold (50 persons) does not apply to entities operating in the field of financial services, products and markets and counteracting money laundering and terrorism financing, transport safety and environmental protection (covered by the scope of application of the European Union legal acts listed in Parts IB and II of the Annex to Directive 2019/1937). This means that, among other things, every accounting office is obliged, regardless of the number of employees, to implement appropriate procedures.
• The provisions on whistleblowers must also be implemented by the supreme and central government administration bodies, local government administration bodies, local government units, other state bodies and other entities performing public administration tasks by operation of law and competent to take follow-up actions.

In this article, however, we will focus on the provisions regarding so-called internal reporting, which apply to companies and organizational units of local government.

Who can implement the regulations?

Every legal entity can, and even should, follow the regulations for its own security.

By when will the regulations be implemented?

The regulations must be implemented by 25 September 2024, but the procedures related to this must begin as soon as possible. By the date indicated above, each entity must be ready for reports from whistleblowers and their protection. By that date, each entity must have prepared documents and conduct consultations with trade unions, and in their absence with representatives of persons performing work. The consultations themselves must last at least 5 days (maximum 10 days), and the procedure enters into force only after 7 days from the date of its announcement. Importantly, on 25 September it must also have reporting channels, a procedure, persons designated and authorized to receive reports and persons designated and authorized to conduct follow-up activities.

Taking into account the dates indicated above, the consulted procedures should be announced no later than 17 September 2024, and the consultations should be carried out no later than 6-11 September 2024.

What needs to be done to implement whistleblower protection procedures?

1. Create an appropriate procedure (Internal Reporting Regulations).
2. Prepare appropriately secured channels where whistleblowers can submit reports
3. Prepare a system for registering and handling reports from whistleblowers,
4. Introduce solutions into your internal regulations that provide adequate protection for whistleblowers.
5. Train employees.

What is the penalty for failing to protect whistleblowers?

The lack of procedures for the protection of whistleblowers or their establishment in violation of the requirements of the Whistleblower Protection Act constitutes an offence punishable by a fine imposed under the Code of Petty Offences, i.e. up to PLN 5,000.

In the event of preventing or hindering the submission of reports, taking retaliatory action against whistleblowers or revealing the identity of the whistleblower, a person assisting in submitting a report or a person associated with the whistleblower, much more severe penalties may be imposed, including imprisonment for up to 2 years.

If you want to implement the regulations or you are not sure whether you need to implement them, contact us!