Every business operating in the EU with 50 or more workers will have to take a hard look at its whistleblower policy and assimilate changes required by the new EU Whistleblower Directive. It is also something companies with connections to EU companies need to think about. The Directive marks a significant evolution in whistleblower protections. There are new concepts to confront such as the ‘reverse burden’ which introduces a presumption that any detriment suffered by a whistleblower is in retaliation for whistleblowing. It will be for the company to show otherwise. The category of persons entitled to protection under the Directive is extremely broad and includes anyone with a “work-based relationship” with the company (such as contractors, suppliers, and shareholders), paid or unpaid, EU nationals or not. The relationship can be past, present, or future with no expiry date. Companies may be haunted by reports from the distant past, the present, and from individuals who may have a future relationship with the company, such as a candidate for a role. To complicate matters further, the Directive is so far being approached in different ways across the EU, so it will be incumbent on companies to understand local laws and obligations. It is important for every business to whom it applies to get it right and consider how to overhaul, if necessary, existing policies and procedures.
The Whistleblower Directive (2019/1937) (“the Directive”) came into force in December 2019 and...
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