Whistleblowers will be able to draw attention to violations of laws and regulations in companies and public authorities more easily and without fear of reprisals. This is the aim of a draft law by the federal government (20/3442), which the German Parliament passed on 16 December 2022 in a version amended by the Legal Affairs Committee (20/4909). The main idea is to set up reporting offices in companies to which whistleblowers can turn. This implements EU requirements (delayed). The second passage in the German Federal Council is expected to take place in its first session at the beginning next year. The provisions which may be relevant for your company are summarised below.
Range of application
Companies with usually more than 50 employees are obliged to set up a department for internal reporting to which employees can turn and to establish corresponding reporting channels. In the case of companies with 50 to 249 employees, a longer implementation period until 17 December 2023 applies. Certain companies in the financial services sector (e.g. credit institutions) are obliged to set up internal whistleblowing systems regardless of their number of employees.
The internal reporting mechanism must be made available to employees. However, companies can also open this to third parties to demonstrate their compliance awareness. This is particularly interesting for companies which, due to their number of employees, fall under the Act on Corporate Due Diligence to Prevent Human...
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