Summary

• much back and forth, the German Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz; HinSchG) was passed by the German parliament on 12 May 2023 and will come into force one month after its announcement (most likely mid-June 2023).
• The HinSchG is intended to create standardisation and comprehensive protection for whistleblowers in implementation of the European Whistleblowing Directive (EU) 2019/1937.
• The HinSchG applies to companies with more than 50 employees and the transition periods are very short:
• Companies with more than 249 employees must establish and operate a whistleblower system after the HinSchG comes into force.
• Companies with 50-249 employees have until 17 December 2023 to set up and operate a whistleblower system.
• The HinSchG applies to any person who have obtained information on violations punishable by law or by administrative fines in connection with their professional activities. Violations punishable by administrative fines only have to be reported insofar as the violated regulation serves to protect life, limb, health or the rights of employees or their representative bodies (e.g. occupational health and safety, health protection, minimum wage or employee leasing). In addition, certain violations of EU law and German legal norms enacted to implement European regulations (for example anti-money laundering laws and data protection laws) are included.
• Employers must establish at least one internal reporting office. However, reporting offices...

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