The first reading of the Whistleblower Protection bill in the Riigikogu, which should ensure the confidentiality of employees who report corrupt violations primarily at their workplaces. However, the bill has received sharp criticism from both the parliament and the private sector, so it may not become law in its current form.

The protection of whistleblowers, the so-called Whistleblower bill, stipulates that employees must have the right to report violations without their identity being made public and without the risk of repercussions.

All public sector bodies and companies with at least 50 employees must set up an internal communication channel, such as an e-mail address, which can lead to an internal control department through which employees can report breaches to their colleagues or superiors in confidence.

"Such violations are very difficult to detect. It makes things a little easier if someone announces that something is happening there or elsewhere," the Minister of Justice Maris Lauri (Reform) explained the bill.

Lauri brought out the example of a money laundering case at Danske Bank, where the employee who reported the violation was also affected, although the case was actively investigated.

The bill has derived from an EU directive, but the Ministry of Justice has extended the so-called mandatory scheme. It has also served to make critics active.

"This is made problematic by the introduction of so-called anonymous channels of communication and an anonymous...

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