In April 2019, the European Parliament passed Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who expose breaches of Union law, also known as the "EU Directive on Whistleblowing," a game-changing directive aimed at protecting whistleblowers across Europe. The new law entered into force on December 16, 2019, after being adopted by the European Union Council and the European Parliament.
Even though the implementation date has passed, the vast majority of member states have yet to approve local implementing legislation.
The exact timeline of the remainder of the legislative procedure is currently unknown because the road to implementation varies in every country. However, it should be emphasized that, besides the lack of legislation, the Directive has been directly applicable in all member states since December 17, 2021.
Businesses with more than 50 employees must set up appropriate internal reporting channels. Companies with 250 or more employees must comply within two years of the law's implementation. Companies with 50 to 250 employees have a further two years to comply after transposition.
The EU Whistleblowing Directive's main goal is to govern how businesses run reporting channels. Employers are required to reply to reports within seven days after receiving them and to follow up on them within three months. According to the Directive, companies with more than 50 workers, as well as all legal organizations in the public sector, must create internal whistleblower reporting mechanisms. Employers with 50 to 249 workers have until 2023 to have these systems in place.
The protection of whistleblowers is a key component of this directive. It is available not just to workers who report issues, but also to job candidates, previous employees, supporters of the whistleblower, and the media.
Protection is limited to reports of wrongdoing involving EU law, such as tax fraud, money laundering, or public procurement offences; product and road safety; environmental protection; public health; and consumer and data protection.
The whistleblower has the option of reporting a problem either internally or immediately to the appropriate supervisory authority. If nothing occurs as a result of the report, or if the whistleblower has reason to feel it is in the public interest, they can go directly to the public. In both circumstances, they are safe.
With these measures, the EU sends a message to whistleblowers that they have nothing to fear while also encouraging them to expose company violations.
We at Salviol Company aspire to build a society where individuals may report wrongdoing without fear of persecution. As a result, we've developed Whistleblower, a system that complies with GDPR and the EU Whistleblower Direct, and that anyone can use after only a simple training.
For further information, please visit https://whistlewb.com/