On April 2, 2024, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft bill on whistleblowers, which was submitted by the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy, and will subsequently be submitted to the Sejm. The regulations are intended to align national law with European Union law, i.e., implement Directive 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law, which should take place by December 17, 2021.
The changes are scheduled to take effect three months after their publication in the Journal of Laws, while some of them, concerning internal reporting, will take effect six months later. This is therefore the best time to update internal regulations applicable to businesses to ensure compliance with the law.
Who is a whistleblower?
Under the draft law, a whistleblower is defined as any person who reports a violation or suspected violation of legal provisions within a business, employed in the private or public sector, regardless of whether the employment is based on an employment relationship, civil law contracts, or as part of an individual's business activity. This also applies to contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers of a given entity. Effective reporting will require the use of an appropriate internal channel (established by a private or public entity) or external channel (to the relevant state authorities), or compliance with public disclosure rules .
The most important assumptions
Whistleblowers cannot be subjected to retaliatory action, meaning they cannot be held accountable for their reporting. Therefore, disciplinary liability, as well as liability related to trade secrets, copyright, or personal data protection, are excluded. Importantly, for immunity from liability to apply, the reporting person must actually believe that circumstances have arisen that should be disclosed. This means that the reporting must be made in the public interest, not the individual's personal interest.
A whistleblower subjected to retaliatory measures will be able to claim compensation in an amount no less than the average monthly salary in the national economy in the previous year. This currently exceeds PLN 7,155.48.
The institution responsible for providing support to whistleblowers will be the Commissioner for Human Rights . Furthermore, the Commissioner for Human Rights will be the office responsible for receiving external reports from whistleblowers regarding constitutional rights and freedoms of persons and citizens.
The Law Firm supports entrepreneurs in implementing appropriate internal regulations regarding whistleblowers.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of April 3, 2024.
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