On June 21 this year, the President of the Republic of Poland signed the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers, which was published in the Journal of Laws on June 24 this year. The basis of the Polish act are the provisions of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of persons reporting breaches of Union law of 23 October 2019.
Whistleblower Protection Act. How to implement it in companies?
Dominika Domiańska-Drzazga, legal advisor from the Trenkwalder Polska employment agency, advises what to pay attention to in order to develop appropriate procedures efficiently and without errors.
Some Polish employers had already started developing internal procedures in their companies or institutions, but without a Polish act that implements the provisions of the EU directive into our legal system, they could not complete this process.
– Now employers have only 3 months to develop appropriate whistleblower protection procedures or verify them for compliance with the Polish Act. This obligation applies to both private and public entities that employ at least 50 people. Employers employing fewer than 50 people may, but do not have to, implement the above-mentioned provisions in their organizations. act – explains Dominika Domiańska-Drzazg.
Obligations of employers
The Whistleblower Act imposes a number of new obligations on employers. Failure to establish a procedure or establishing it in violation of essential requirements specified in the Act is punishable by a fine. What employers should pay attention to in the process of implementing the provisions of the Act, suggests an expert from the Trenkwalder employment agency.
– Establishing an internal reporting procedure must be preceded by consultations. If the employer has trade unions, consultations should be conducted with the company's trade union organization. If there are no trade unions, consultations should be held with representatives of persons working for the employer, selected in accordance with the procedure adopted by the employer. Interestingly, the act specifies the duration of such consultations – they are to last no less than 5 and no longer than 10 days from the presentation of the draft procedure by the employer. – emphasizes Dominika Domiańska-Drzazga, legal advisor from the Trenkwalder Polska employment agency.
The procedure for reporting internal irregularities in the company should include, among others:
– Who will be authorized to accept internal reports – it may be an internal organizational unit operating at the employer (e.g. a specific department), a specific person within the organizational structure (e.g. HR director) or an external entity (e.g. a law firm);
– Methods of reporting reports by the whistleblower and an impartial internal organizational unit or person within the organizational structure that will be authorized to carry out follow-up activities (including verification of the report, contact with the whistleblower), procedure
with information about violations reported anonymously – employers can decide themselves whether to accept such reports or not.
Whistleblower reports. Procedures
– Pursuant to the Act, the methods of transmitting internal reports include at least the possibility of making reports orally or in writing. When determining how to report violations, it is worth taking into account the type of workplace and the staff the employer employs, so that reporting is not difficult for them. An online form that works well for office workers may be difficult for e.g. production workers. In the latter case, a better solution may be to place a box where reports can be placed. However, it should be located in a place not covered by camera monitoring. – emphasizes Dominika Domiańska-Drzazga, legal advisor from the Trenkwalder Polska employment agency.
In addition to designating appropriate channels for whistleblowers to report irregularities, employers must, of course, prepare appropriate documentation and adapt their IT systems. An expert from the Trenkwalder agency emphasizes that no less important is an information campaign within the company, the aim of which will be to properly familiarize employees with the developed procedures, e.g. by organizing a training during which the purpose of introducing the procedure for reporting violations and the main assumptions of the Whistleblower Protection Act will be explained to employees.
– Employers may, in their internal procedures, expand the catalog of violations specified in the Act and provide for the possibility of reporting violations regarding the employer's internal regulations or ethical standards. Employees must be notified that only internal reporting will be possible in such a case. – says Dominika Domiańska-Drzyzga.
Temporary workers and the whistleblower protection act
Temporary workers were directly covered by the provisions of the Act. The temporary employee will be able to report the violation both to the temporary employment agency and to the user's employer – depending on which entity the violation concerns.
– It is important that temporary workers are properly instructed by the temporary employment agency not only on what violations to report, but also to which entity to report them. However, both the temporary employment agency and the user employer should develop an internal procedure in the event that a temporary employee reports a violation related to the other party. – points out Dominika Domiańska-Drzazga, legal advisor from the Trenkwalder Polska employment agency. – There may be doubts as to which entity – the temporary employment agency or the user employer – should include temporary workers in the number of employed persons.
In my opinion, it should be assumed that the number of temporary employees should be taken into account by the temporary employment agency, as a formal employer. – adds Dominika Domiańska-Drzyzga.
