The deadline for implementing the EU Whistleblowing Directive expired in December 2021 yet Germany still lacks an implementation law. In mid-April, the Federal Ministry of Justice published a draft bill to be passed by autumn 2022 – the German Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz / HinSchG).
What are the aims of the new Act?
The HinSchG is intended to transpose the new whistleblower protection requirements adopted at EU level in 2019 into Germany’s national law. Therefore, the HinSchG, just like the underlying EU Whistleblowing Directive ((EU) 2019/1937), aims to expand the protection of whistleblowers, which has been incomplete and insufficient in the view of the (European and German) legislator.
Who must comply with these new requirements?
The HinSchG in principle obliges all companies with at least 50 employees to establish internal reporting channels. In some industries, such reporting channels must even be set up regardless of the number of employees; this can affect, for example, securities services companies, financial institutions and insurance companies.
Furthermore, the HinSchG stipulates that in addition to these internal reporting channels, an external reporting channel must also be established by the federal authorities. Thus, a separate unit is to be created at the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz), which is responsible for the independent receipt and processing of reports from whistleblowers.
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