Law on whistleblowers – who does it affect and when does it come into effect?

The act on the protection of persons who infringe the rights to another document, which in Polish contains the approval of legal provisions. so-called issued on December 17, 2021, however, legislative work has been extended – a project that has not been connected.
Table of contents:

Who is a whistleblower?


Signalman – customary definition

According to the practical definition, a whistleblower means a person or entity that informs of the possibility of a misdemeanor, or crime, by an entity with which the whistleblower has a business and/or contractual relationship.

A whistleblower usually cooperates with the judiciary, and is granted whistleblower status if representatives of the prosecutor’s office determine that the person’s actions could put him or her in danger of losing his or her job or expose him or her to other negative consequences.

Whistleblower – legal definition

As of June 2024, we have an official explanation of the term, and there are significant differences (although the core remains the same).

According to Art. 4 of the Law of June 14, 2024. on the protection of whistleblowers, a whistleblower is an individual who reports or publicly discloses information about a violation of the law, obtained in a work-related context. A whistleblower can thus be:

  • employee (including temporary),
  • a person providing work on a basis other than employment (e.g., under a civil law contract),
  • an entrepreneur associated with the subject of the notification (e.g., a service contractor for the subject),
  • proxy,
  • shareholder,
  • partner,
  • intern,
  • volunteer,
  • Apprentice.

However, this is not the end of the list. Art. 4. ust. 1 pt. 12 also speaks of officers (e.g., Police, Internal Security Agency or Customs and Excise Service), while Art. 4. Para. 1 pt. 13 also includes soldiers in this group.

Paragraph 2 of the said article is also extremely important. According to its wording, a whistleblower may also be a person who reports or publicly discloses information about violations of the law before the establishment of an employment relationship (or other legal relationship that is the basis for the provision of work, services or functions in a legal entity to the subject of the report) or already after their termination. In practice, this means that an employee, trainee or service contractor can report violations of the law not only during the course of the relationship, but also before it is established or after it is terminated. Interestingly, the law as it currently stands does not specify within what timeframe from the occurrence of a violation of the law a situation must be reported or made public in order to obtain whistleblower status.

Key findings of the whistleblower directive


Why is legal protection for whistleblowers needed?

Important!

Three channels of information

When can a whistleblower benefit from public disclosure?

What violations can whistleblowers report?

However, the EU directive places special emphasis on reports of violations in areas:

  • public procurement,
  • services, products and financial markets,
  • Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing,
  • product safety,
  • transportation security,
  • environmental protection,
  • Food and feed safety,
  • animal health and welfare,
  • public health,
  • consumer protection,
  • privacy and data protection.

Law on whistleblowers – what is it and who does it apply to?


Law on whistleblowers – the most important assumptions

The law on whistleblowers is intended to provide legal protection to all those who choose to report irregularities, wrongdoings or crimes at workplaces.

In a word: the document will implement the objectives of EU Directive 2019/1937. Here are some of the most important assumptions present in the law:

  • The Whistleblower Protection Law deals with whistleblowers and clarifies the term. A whistleblower may be a person who is associated with the abusive entity or organization not only by an employment contract, but by any legal or factual relationship. What’s more, the notification can be made not only during the course of the relationship in question, but also before it begins or after it ends (for example, when there has already been a termination of employment).
  • The condition for the granting of whistleblower status will be that notifications are made in a manner consistent with the provisions of the law.
  • The Law on Whistleblowers requires businesses to create procedures to facilitate internal reporting, ensure protection of whistleblower data and document reports. We describe this issue in detail later in the article.
  • External applications in Poland will be accepted by the Ombudsman. The RPO will also have a duty to ensure whistleblower protection and follow-up.

Law on whistleblowers – employer’s obligations


The obligation to implement protective procedures does not extend to all entrepreneurs, but only:

  • Companies with at least 50 employees (FTE),
  • public sector entities.

Although the above list is very short, it also includes an exception – authorities of municipalities or counties with fewer than 10,000 residents are not required to implement the above-mentioned procedures.

It is also worth remembering that the number of 50 employees for the purposes of calculating the criterion also includes persons providing work for remuneration on a basis other than employment, but only on condition that the entity does not employ other people for such work.

So what are the employer’s responsibilities?

  • Draw up an internal procedure for making reports of violations of the law and taking follow-up action – these regulations must comply with the requirements found in Chapter 3 (Articles 23-29) of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers,
  • Establish channels for receiving reports and inform employees, co-workers and persons who have a business relationship with the employer about the availability of these channels,
  • Designating an impartial internal organizational unit to follow up, which means verifying, handling and clarifying applications,
  • recording and documenting reports – keeping recordings or transcripts of conversations conducted with whistleblowers via telecommunications devices (with their consent, of course), taking minutes (in the case of oral reports), or keeping copies of written reports.

Another obligation of businesses and the RPO will be to document reports made by whistleblowers – in the case of oral reports, it will be necessary to create accurate transcriptions of the conversations during which the report was made.

Summary


The law of June 14, 2024. on whistleblower protection is a document that has the potential to change a lot about whistleblowing. In many companies there are not only legally required procedures, but also incentives to use the possibility of reporting problems internally. Companies know that a good portion of problems can be dealt with internally so as to satisfy each party. What’s more – the detection of irregularities can often lead to savings or productivity gains, and, above all, give the company a chance to correct mistakes before the consequences become too severe.

As early as September 25, 2024, the law goes into effect and will start protecting whistleblowers. But the question remains: how will the new regulations work in practice? That, however, we will find out no sooner than after the next few months.

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