Protection of whistleblowers has finally been introduced into the Polish system through the Act of June 14, 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers. For many businesses, this means an obligation to introduce a system to protect whistleblowers - so-called "whistleblowers.
- Who will be covered by the internal notification procedure?
Companies employing more than 50 people providing labor, regardless of the basis of cooperation. The pool of 50 people includes both employees under an employment contract and collaborators under other civil law contracts (cooperation agreement/b2b/contract of mandate, etc.).
For some businesses, however, this threshold will not be a determinant. Selected companies will be required to implement a whistleblowing system even though they work with fewer than 50 people. This applies to the industry of financial services, products and markets, as well as those covered by regulations on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, transportation security and environmental protection. However, it is only about the services indicated in Parts I.B and II of the Annex to Directive 2019/1937. The complicated system of references to European Union acts is not helpful here, but it is worth verifying in advance whether you, as a company, fall under this special exception.
- Main responsibilities
Entrepreneurs must prepare for, among other things:
- Selecting a channel to handle requests (e.g., third-party vendor/platform/app/physical mailbox, etc.);
- consultations (either with the company's labor unions or representatives of those who provide labor to the company when there is no union);
- Keeping a register of applications;
- Maintaining additional documentation (e.g., authorizing specific individuals to investigate reported irregularities);
- Adapting the adopted solutions in terms of personal data protection and whistleblower identity.
- Penalty - mainly financial
Companies are to make sure, first and foremost, that the procedure is in place, in force, communicated and compliant. This also applies to all those activities that must be ensured before the system is put into operation, such as mandatory consultations within the company, record-keeping and protocols if a verbal channel for reporting violations is accepted. The sanction is a financial penalty of up to PLN 1,080,000.
A similar penalty is provided for revealing the identity of a whistleblower. In this case, the punishment has been expanded to include either restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to a year, which also applies to those designated to handle whistleblowing and response (follow-up).
- Deadline
There is not much time to introduce a whistleblowing system: 25.09.2024 The year is a cut-off date. That's already less than 3 months to analyze the whistleblower protection practices in place (this is especially true for industries implementing whistleblowing under AML in the past), meet the remaining deadlines (e.g., a minimum 5-day consultation), and prepare internal documentation (communications to colleagues, contracts, authorizations). However, taking into account the 7-day "vacatio legis" of Article 24(5) of the Law, the procedures must be ready and published in the company as early as 18.09.2024.
Doubt whether your company falls under the new regulations? Contact us.
