Whistleblower Protection Act already being debated in parliament

 

From the point of view of the majority of companies in the Czech Republic, this is very important news, as every employer with 50 or more employees will become a so-called obligated entity after this law takes effect and will have to implement an internal reporting system and at the same time put in place its own measures to protect whistleblowers. 

With this in mind, it is now high time to prepare for the new legal obligations, as the introduction of an internal reporting system entails a number of organisational, legal and technical requirements that cannot be addressed in a few weeks. 

In particular, companies with 50 or more employees will be required to establish and operate an internal reporting system (internal whistleblowing channel) that will allow employees and certain other groups of potential whistleblowers to report wrongdoing within the company that they become aware of in a work-related context. 

As regards the methods of notification, these are not precisely defined in the draft law, but the obligated entity must always set up its internal reporting system in such a way that a whistleblower can report the wrongdoing orally, in writing (including by electronic data message) and, if requested by the whistleblower, in person. However, it must be taken into account that at all times and in all circumstances the confidentiality and secrecy of the identity of the whistleblower and other persons concerned, as well as the confidentiality of the information being reported, must be ensured by the obligated entity within the internal reporting system. 

In addition to these organisational and technical aspects of the internal reporting system, the obligated company must designate a so-called competent person or several competent persons who, within the framework of the system set up, will be exclusively authorised to receive reports of wrongdoing and to assess their validity, i.e. to verify whether the reported information corresponds to reality or not. This will then have an impact on whether the competent person will inform the whistleblower that his/her reported information is unfounded and therefore 'shelve' the notification, or whether the competent person will assess the information as substantiated and, on that basis, submit a proposal to the company's management to take appropriate action.  

However, there will be other obligations associated with the operation of the internal reporting system, in particular information obligations towards employees and other potential whistleblowers, both in terms of the Whistleblower Protection Act and the obligations of the controller under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).   

The original draft of the Whistleblower Protection Act provided for it to take effect as of 1 July 2023, but the government's current draft bill suggests that it could be earlier, depending on how long it takes to complete the parliamentary debate-phase and pass the new legislation. As for the possibility of making use of a transitional period for the implementation of an internal reporting system, this would only apply to those obligated entities that have between 50 and 249 employees. These obligated entities would have to implement the system by 15 December 2023 at the latest. 

If you have any questions about the new legislation on whistleblower protection and the associated obligations, please do not hesitate to contact us.