The entity-level reporting requirement described in the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive (“the Directive”) is one of the more complex aspects of the emerging legal standard. For private organizations with legal entities operating in one or more EU member states, upholding the requirement to empower whistleblowers to choose the entity to which they report, who has access to their report, and who will investigate their case can pose a major challenge.
The transposition process remains ongoing in many EU countries, but the Directive and supplementary guidance provided by the European Commission are enough to establish a basic framework for whistleblowing programs. We have identified five key questions designed to assess your organization’s readiness to comply with the entity-level reporting requirements.
The primary factor dictating the scope of an internal reporting program is determined by the number and worker counts of the distinct legal entities that make up an organization. The complexity of business structures varies widely, and the term “legal entity” is undefined in the Directive. In the absence of more specific criteria defined in a national transposition, the Directive suggests an enterprise’s status as a “legal entity” may be based on its obligation to collect VAT.
The first step in determining your organization’s need is to assess and define the legal structure of your company (or companies). Start by cataloguing each...
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