The definition of a whistleblower and their legal status emerged as a result of work on Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons reporting breaches of EU law of 23 October 2019. This directive defined this entity as a natural person who reports or publicly discloses information about breaches obtained in the context of their work. The first category of such persons, within the meaning of Article 45 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, includes persons with employee status, including civil servants and self-employed persons. These also include shareholders, partners in commercial companies, members of administrative or supervisory bodies, interns, and any person working under the supervision and direction of contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. It is worth emphasizing that a whistleblower can also be a candidate in the recruitment process or someone who has previously had an employment relationship with a given organization.
A whistleblower's role is to report perceived irregularities, information, and potential violations of the law. They may also report any type of abuse to an entity with which they maintain or have maintained a work-related relationship. An entity acquires whistleblower status upon filing an external or internal report, or upon public disclosure of information.
A whistleblower will benefit from the protection provided by Chapter VI of the aforementioned Directive provided that their report was not unfounded and that the circumstances indicate that they could have believed the information disclosed was truthful at the time of reporting. Furthermore, the information must concern a violation of legal standards within the organization. It should also be noted that the report should concern a super-individual interest and be based on existing facts, not the subjective belief of the reporting party. A whistleblower reporting system can be effective provided that adequate protection is provided to whistleblowers. This entity is presumed to be acting in good faith, on the lookout for unethical and illegal activities within the organization, and therefore will not be subject to any retaliatory measures, such as demotion, suspension of training, early termination, or termination of the contract, against the reporting party. The employer is obligated to provide a range of solutions to enable this procedure, including establishing internal reporting channels, ensuring the whistleblower's anonymity, and responding appropriately to the report. He or she must also cooperate with the relevant units and provide “feedback”, i.e. provide the reporting person with information on planned or undertaken follow-up actions.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Legal status as of September 12, 2023
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