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At the moment, the third draft of the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers has been published in Poland, which announces the entry into force of the provisions on ensuring the safety of persons reporting irregularities. However, this does not change the fact that employers should now comply with the guidelines of the Whistleblower Directive. Accordingly, each company covered by its provisions should appoint a person or committee to receive and process the reports.
What aspects should be taken into account in the managing of Whistleblower reports?
The Whistleblower Protection Directive provides for many new obligations to which employers are subject. Above all, they must ensure a safe, effective, and compliant internal channel for receiving and handling reports, in line with the Whistleblower Directive. Moreover, it is very important to protect the confidentiality of the identity of all Whistleblowers and to choose a reporting system that meets these security requirements. Another issue that employers must take into account is the need to create internal procedures and regulations in such a way that they are transparent and accessible to all employees. Organizations must also appoint an impartial and independent person or committee to review and process entries.
What is the role of the committee in examining Whistleblowers' reports?
The commission for examining Whistleblowers' reports is the body that accepts, verifies, and processes the reports. The main task of the commission is to react quickly to any irregularities and to take remedial actions to eliminate the reported violations. It is through a team of designated people that any reports that Whistleblowers report through secure internal channels pass. The committee must ensure that Whistleblowers protect their identity as confidential. The commission may include company employees or the task of handling reports may be outsourced to an external company.
Is it a good choice to appoint a commission composed of employees of the company?
The question of whether the application committee should be made up of company employees only is a moot point. Certainly, this option allows the company to minimize the costs that are incurred in the case of outsourcing the managing of Whistleblower notifications to an external company. On the other hand, the main doubts related to the appointment of an employee committee relate to issues of efficiency, objectivity, and neutrality.
It is often a problem for a company to maintain adequate impartiality concerning reports of irregularities. There are still many people who mistakenly view Whistleblowers as informers who want to harm an organization. According to Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and the Council, a Whistleblower is a person who acts in good faith and intends to improve the functioning of the organization. Many staff sees reporting misconduct to an in-house committee as a conflict of interest and, in this case, do not believe in an impartial assessment of the matter. The process of submitting reports by committee members themselves can also be problematic. Should such a situation arise, it may be necessary to establish more than one committee or appoint new persons. Then, a problem is likely to arise related to the protection of confidentiality of the identity of persons reporting irregularities.
It is up to the company to decide which variant to bet on. However, this does not change the fact that employers must provide their employees with an internal channel for managing reports, which may be compliant with the requirements of the directive and a secure Whistleblower system.
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