The importance of whistleblower hotline programmes and protecting employees who report misconduct in the workplace is increasingly being valued globally. Legislation has been introduced to regulate this issue, not only in the EU under the EU Whistleblowing Directive (in force since 17 December 2021), but also under legislation that applies in other jurisdictions (including under the UK's Employment Rights Act 1996, as amended by the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998).
Businesses in those EU Member States that have transposed the Whisteblowing Directive, are required to establish internal and external reporting channels for receiving and investigating whistleblower complaints. The Directive also sets out the scope of activities that whistleblowers may report, for example violation of laws concerning public procurement, product safety or financial services, and it gives protection and rights to whistleblowers. Crucially whistleblowers' confidentiality must be protected. The deadline to transpose the Directive was 17 December 2021, but many jurisdictions are still working through the legislative process and have not yet finalised the implementation process. We anticipate all jurisdictions will implement the Directive by the end of 2022.
The concept of the EU Directive is mirrored in the US with the Sarbanes Oxley Act introducing similar principles that apply to publicly traded companies. The organisation's audit staff are required to set up a complaint notification system...
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