WHISTLEBLOWING

The Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers, which implements the Directive on the Protection of Whistleblowers into Polish law, was published in the Journal of Laws on 24 June 2024. The new legislation will take effect as early as 25 September 2024.
Companies should prepare for this change, even if they already have in place procedures for submitting so-called internal notifications.

Under the Whistleblower Protection Act, an employer with more than 50 employees (including those employed under civil law contracts) must create a channel through which irregularities and violations in areas such as labor law, consumer protection, or personal data protection can be reported. Smaller employers will not be covered by this regulation, but the market will likely force them to voluntarily comply with these increased standards.

Properly preparing organizations for whistleblower protection requires comprehensive regulation of the environment for receiving and dealing with reports. As part of our services, we offer comprehensive and professional services in the area of implementation of legal obligations, including the creation of a complete internal procedure for accepting whistleblower reports, adapted to the relevant ICT tools. The scope of preparation of the necessary procedure includes, among other things, conducting internal consultations, setting up a unit responsible for receiving reports, establishing channels for receiving reports, preparing measures to protect whistleblowers against retaliatory actions, setting up a unit responsible for taking follow-up actions, keeping a register of reports, or supporting the proper functioning of the procedure. As part of our offer, we provide an end-to-end solution linked to the technical means for handling notifications.