Introduction
Further to the adoption of Legislative Decree no. 24/2023 (the Italian WB Decree), which transposed in Italy the EU Directive 2019/1937 (the EU Whistleblowing Directive), many companies have struggled to understand how to properly implement – or update – their whistleblowing systems in line with the new requirements.
In order to try and bring some clarity, various Italian authorities/bodies – most notably ANAC (i.e. the Italian Anti-Corruption Authority, which has been entrusted with the duty to monitor compliance with the new whistleblowing legislation) and Confindustria (the main employers’ association for the industrial sector) – have issued interpretative guidelines.
Against this background, ANAC has recently issued a new set of guidelines aimed at further clarifying how internal reporting channels should be implemented and managed (the New ANAC Guidelines).
Key highlights of the New ANAC Guidelines
The role of employee representatives: the Italian WB Decree requires companies to activate whistleblowing channels “having heard” the relevant employee representatives. This wording raised some discussions on whether a formal consent from employee representatives would be required. ANAC has clarified that it is sufficient that the companies consult with the employee representatives about the main features of the new whistleblowing channels so to allow them to offer comments/observations (i.e. no consent is required).
Submission of a whistleblowing report: the...
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