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Whistleblowing
A new law on whistleblowing (the “Whistleblowing Act”) came into force on December 17, 2021. The law implements the EU whistleblowing directive which was adopted in October 2019.
Under the Whistleblowing Act, both private and public employers within the EU, and with a minimum of 50 employees, are to establish a whistleblowing function (whistleblowing system). For financial companies, however, there is a special rule in the EU directive that means that these companies must always be subject to the requirement for a whistleblowing function, even in cases where the number of employees is less than 50 people. In addition, the requirement for financial firms to set up a whistleblowing system has applied in the past under the anti-money laundering legislation.
The Whistleblowing Act sets forth a number of requirements on how the whistleblowing function shall be implemented. The legislation stipulates, for example, that the whistleblowing function should be user-friendly and established in such a manner as to safeguard the anonymity of the whistleblower as well as that of all third parties. The whistleblowing function shall also be available to all people who are active at a company which, in addition to employees, may also include suppliers, consultants, shareholders, job seekers, and trainees.
The whistleblowing function must also enable both verbal and written reporting. A further requirement is that there must be independent and autonomous persons or units that receive the whistleblowing reports, maintain contact with the reporting person, follow up, and provide feedback to the reporting person.
The purpose of the new law is to enhance the protection against reprisals by way of stricter requirements on how reporting is to be handled. It would be highly recommendable to implement the whistleblowing function for those companies with fewer than 50 employees even though the legal requirement applies to companies with a minimum of 50 employees.
Harvest's offer – a safe and simple service that meets all legal requirements
Harvest, in collaboration with Whistleblower Partners, offers a cost-effective and quality-assured whistleblowing system with which we can manage your entire whistleblowing function.
Our system is specifically moulded and adapted to the Whistleblowing Act, thus facilitating anonymous contact with whistleblowers while ensuring that the handling and follow-up of reports are both performed in a smooth and efficient manner.
Harvest can help you get off the mark quickly. We can assist in producing both the appropriate information and the documentation for the user as well as relevant control documents to facilitate the implementation of the necessary internal processes.
All personal data processing is performed in accordance with the requirements set forth under the GDPR. You can read more about Whistleblower Partners' personal data processing here.
Feel free to contact us if you wish to know more.
