{"id":18637,"date":"2022-03-14T16:36:06","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T15:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/polario.app\/whistleblower-system-facts-implementation\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T11:49:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T09:49:06","slug":"whistleblower-system-facts-implementation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/polario.app\/en\/whistleblower-system-facts-implementation\/","title":{"rendered":"Whistleblower system – facts & implementation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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To ensure an EU-wide standard for the protection of whistleblowers<\/strong>, the European Union adopted a whistleblower protection regulation in October 2019. In a two-year implementation period, EU member states are required to transpose EU Directive 2019\/1937<\/a> into their own national laws by December 17, 2021.<\/p>

What exactly does this policy entail? What does it mean for me as a company? This is what we want to explain in this article and show how we can help you with our solution \u2013 Polario<\/strong>.<\/p>

The basis of the Whistleblower Protection Act<\/strong><\/h2>

The Whistleblower Protection Act is based on EU Directive 2019\/1937<\/strong>. This directive was issued to improve the protection of whistleblowers. Whistleblowers have made waves in the recent past, both politically and economically, by disclosing unlawful acts<\/strong>.<\/p>

Probably the best-known whistleblower in the political field<\/strong> is Edward Snowden<\/a>. But also in the economic context<\/strong>, e.g. in the context of the VW<\/a> diesel gate, there are numerous people who have pointed out grievances and would be considered whistleblowers according to the new legal situation. Whistleblowers are perceived positively by the public because they disclose illegal actions that cause damage to society as a whole. In companies, however, as past cases have shown, whistleblowers are often perceived negatively, as these tips can have negative consequences for employees and the company. At the same time, this negative perception within the company<\/strong> leads to whistleblowers fearing sanctions, up to and including losing their jobs. This is exactly the point at which the EU policy with the directive has set in, so that framework conditions are created to uncover grievances in the future without the whistleblowers having to fear reprisals.<\/p>

The aim of the EU Directive 2019\/1937<\/strong><\/h2>

The primary purpose of the Directive and the resulting law is to protect whistleblowers who report violations. Whistleblowers are persons who obtain information about violations in a professional context and report them. Infringements are defined as illegal acts. The directive explicitly refers to EU law<\/strong>, which includes, for example, tax fraud, data protection, consumer protection, environmental protection, money laundering and other offenses sanctioned by EU law. With the transposition of the Directive into German law, the reporting of violations of German law will also be covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Who is to be protected by the law? <\/strong><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Employees of the company <\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Former employees of the company<\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Supporters of the whistleblowers<\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Applicants<\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Trainees<\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Shareholders<\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Suppliers & service providers<\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Individuals who report violations outside of work activities or external violations are not protected.<\/p>

Mandatory introduction of an internal reporting channel<\/strong><\/h2>

The guideline specifies two possible reporting channels to which whistleblowers can turn. On the one hand, via external reporting channels<\/strong> and, on the other hand, via internal company reporting channels<\/strong>.<\/p>

External channels are special authorities that have been established for these purposes.<\/p>

Internal channels are ways that an employee can report the breach internally within the company. And this is where it becomes relevant for your company, because there is an obligation for companies<\/strong> to set up such reporting channels. The EU Directive explicitly states that internal reporting channels are to be given preferential treatment.<\/p>

Not only companies under obligation<\/strong><\/h2>

For companies with more than 50 employees or annual sales higher than 10 million euros, for municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants and state and federal authorities, this new law means that you must set up internal reporting channels for your employees for such violations. These reporting channels must meet the following requirements.<\/p>

You must:<\/p>