On 7 July 2022, yet another (already the third) draft Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers (the "Draft") was published on the website of the Government Legislation
Centre. Poland is obliged by the EU Directive to implement legislation in this area.
The Draft, compared to its previously proposed version of 6 April 2022, has introduced several significant changes, which we present below.
Mandatory elements of the internal reporting procedure
The new Draft stipulates that an obligatory element of internal reporting procedure is defining the system of encouragements to use said procedure where breaches of the law can be effectively addressed within the organisational structure of relevant legal entity and the reporting person considers that there is no risk of retaliation. In the previous version of the Act, it was optional to introduce encouragements for reporting persons.
Deadline for implementing the internal reporting procedure
Entities concerned with whistleblower protection are to be given more time to comply with the obligations set out in the Act. In the Draft, the deadline for implementing the internal reporting procedure has been extended from one month to two months, staring from the day when the Act enters into force. The internal reporting procedure, on the other hand, is to take effect in relevant entity within 14 days from being announced to the employees. In the previous version, the term “two weeks” was used.
Keeping records of the reports
Data of two...
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