The Slovenian government has adopted a draft act on the protection of whistleblowers, a piece of legislation years in the making that sets down avenues to report breaches and introduces protective measures.
The bill transposes the EU directive on protecting persons who report breaches of EU law but also covers breaches of all laws applicable in Slovenia.
“It is more ambitious than the directive … in that it brings more protective measures for whistleblowers and the obligation to process anonymous reports,” Justice Minister Dominika Švarc Pipan said on Wednesday.
Companies with over 50 employees will have to introduce two separate channels for whistleblowers, and employers will be prohibited from laying off, bullying or transferring whistleblowers to a lower paid job.
Should employers resort to retaliation, whistleblowers will be able to seek recourse in court and receive free legal aid, unemployment benefits and counselling.
It is expected that there will be some ten cases a year when whistleblowers will experience retaliatory action. However, “we estimate there will be some five cases of employment termination a year” when judicial protection and other supportive measures will be needed, said the minister.
Slovenia is not seen as particularly problematic when it comes to fighting corruption, but progress has been sluggish in recent years, and the county lost three spots on Transparency International’s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index to rank 41st,
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