Novinky v oblasti whistleblowingu – novela zákona o ochrane oznamovateľov protispoločenskej činnosti

News in the field of whistleblowing — Amendment ("the Amendment") to the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers Reporting Anti-Social Activity and on Amendment of Certain Acts ("the Whistleblowing Act")

Why is this legislative update relevant to your company?

1. You need to comply with the current legislation or you may face sanctions for breaching the law. You also need to ensure employee awareness and establish the right corporate culture.
2. You need to maintain your reputation and an effective whistleblowing system may serve as a competitive market advantage. A whistleblowing policy is often required by customers and business partners, or is subject to audits.
3. Some EU jurisdictions require multinational companies to harmonize their procedures at group level, or establish group whistleblowing policies.
4. The number of different providers of automated whistleblowing solutions on the market requires a critical approach to supplier selection.

What did the Amendment introduce and what must employers implement by 1 July 2023?

The Amendment becomes effective on 1 July 2023, transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

It introduces key changes regarding obligations to:

• Implement a whistleblowing system to review reports in selected sectors (regardless of the number of employees)
• Maintain records of whistleblowing notifications for three years
• Issue an internal regulation with specific requirements
• Confirm receipt of whistleblowing notifications within seven days, and within 90 days of this confirmation, announce the results of notification review

Have you already updated your internal regulations and appointed a person responsible for assessing whistleblowing reports?

An appointed focal point should be responsible for meeting the employer’s obligations, which can be a single person within the organization, an organizational unit or an externally contracted individual. The prerequisites for performing this function are competence and independence from the employer. Companies are also required to update their current internal regulations by September 2023.

How to proceed with notifications containing information protected by trade secrets?

According to the law, notifications concerning facts and information protected by trade secrets are not considered a violation of the obligation to maintain confidentiality of this information.

What else is new?

• There is an expanded range of protected whistleblowers (i.e., persons entitled to protection under the law).
• There is an extended list of prohibited employers‘ retaliatory measures, designed to threaten or punish whistleblowers, their relatives or other associated persons, which includes reduction of salary, reassignment to a lower position, refusal of promotion, coercion, intimidation, termination of contract or cancellation of licenses and permits.
• There is an expanded list of criminal acts considered serious anti-social activity.

What penalties do companies face if they do not align their processes with the new legal obligations?

Employers may face fines of up to EUR 100,000 if they do not meet the requirements of the law.

Whistleblowing in a wider context

The introduction and effective operation of a whistleblowing system within an organization brings with it several pitfalls, involving personal data protection, sensitive information and trade secrets and labor law aspects.

To help you keep on top of the requirements, we have prepared a brief checklist with practical recommendations:

At EY, we can help you:

1. Establish the process for reporting anti-social activity (whistleblowing) from A to Z, including both internal and external reports (e.g., suppliers, customers and other external partners) and preparation of employer's internal regulations
2. Harmonize local whistleblowing processes with group standards
3. Organize regular training and retraining of relevant employees with a focus on internal processes and procedures, personal data protection and redaction of data, and protection of whistleblowers.
4. Conduct contractual negotiations with suppliers of whistleblowing solutions, including revision of commercial contracts, including relevant clauses on protection of personal data
5. Support with performance of selected activities of the focal person
6. Prepare or update privacy notices, relevant privacy assessments or balancing tests (depending on the relevant legal basis for personal data processing) and provide support in exercising the rights of data subjects.