Also known as the whistleblower protection law or Whistleblowing Directive, Directive (EU) 2019/1937 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report infringements of Union law, is a rule that It will be mandatory for all legal entities with 50 or more employees, whether they belong to public or private sector.
Whistleblowing Directive
The Directive, published in the TWELVE on November 26, 2019, has as its Deadline for its transposition by Member States on December 17, 2021, with the exception of organizations that have a number of workers between 50 and 249, whose implementation will be extended until December 2023.
But what is this Directive looking for? The purpose is basically to establish a reporting and protection mechanism for those people who report any irregularity within their organizations, whether public or private, guarantee transparency and combat corruption. Furthermore, the Directive places special emphasis on the protection of whistleblowers, so that they can emerge stronger, protecting them from any retaliation.
To this end, organizations must take a series of measures to ensure compliance with this Directive, among which we can highlight: creation of anonymous reporting channels, the designation of a person or department that is responsible for monitoring and accompanying the reporting person, the provision of information to the whistleblower without exceeding three months, the guarantee of compliance with Regulation (EU) 679/2016 on Data Protection and the guarantee of the records of each complaint, among others.
It is clear that this Directive shakes the hand of whistleblowers; But it is also obvious that, thanks to it, organizations can benefit considerably, since, by building bridges between employees and the organization, they are encouraged to raise their concerns internally, thereby gives the organization the opportunity to identify and correct risks derived from them, anticipating and trying to mitigate financial and reputational damage.
