The German Bundestag passed the German Whistleblower Protection Act on Dec. 16, 2022. After initially not being expected to be passed in 2022, the bill did make it onto the agenda of the last session day of the year at short notice and was passed in a version amended by the Legal Affairs Committee (Rechtsausschuss) with the coalition's majority. The next step is for the Bundesrat to approve the bill. However, this is not expected until the first plenary session in February at the earliest.

Key Points

Key points of the law include:

• Companies with at least 250 employees are obliged to set up an internal reporting system when the law comes into effect. For companies with 50 to 249 employees, this obligation will apply from Dec. 17.
• Whistleblowers shall be comprehensively protected, in particular against reprisals. Any discrimination against a whistleblower in connection with a report is prohibited. The burden of proof lies with the companies.
• Whistleblowers are free to choose whether to report internally or externally. Public disclosures are permitted only in exceptional cases.
• Corporate groups can implement an internal reporting office at the group level.
• Companies must now also provide reporting channels for anonymous reports and process anonymous incoming reports—but here there is a longer implementation deadline of 2025, regardless of the size of the companies.
• The law takes effect three months after promulgation.

Latest Changes in the Legislative Process

On July 27,...

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