Provisions on the protection of whistle-blowers' rights

Abstract

Terms related to the implementation of the Directive on the protection of the rights of whistleblowers By December 16, 2021, Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 23, 2019, on the protection of persons reporting breaches of EU law, the so-called Whistleblower Protection Directive (Directive). This directive will enter into force on 17 December 2021. This means that, at least for employers with 250 or more employees, the effective date of the provisions will be December 17, 2021. The directive provides for the possibility of postponing the implementation of obligations for entities employing 50 to 249 until December 17, 2023. employees. The obligation to protect whistleblowers will apply to all entrepreneurs employing more than 50 employees, but this criterion does not apply if the entrepreneur is covered by one of the EU acts listed in Annex I to the directive. This applies, inter alia, to regulations concerning financial aspects or AML (counteracting money laundering and terrorism), entities that participate in public procurement tenders or use EU funds as part of their activities. Then the entrepreneur is to be subject to the obligations to implement the whistleblower protection requirements, regardless of the number of employees. Additionally, the directive explicitly encourages the national legislator to extend the obligations also to other areas of law and a broader scope of entrepreneurs. Therefore, it will be specified in the Polish act implementing the Directive.