Another bill to protect whistleblowers

On 7 July 2022. The Government Legislation Centre has published a third draft of the Whistleblower Protection Bill.

The project is the result of the need to implement the EU Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the Whistleblowing Directive), this time clarifying previously proposed solutions and offering cosmetic changes.

Under the terms of the new draft, the deadline for the implementation of the internal notification procedure, the rules on criminal records and the catalogue of mandatory elements of the internal notification procedure will be amended.

Deadline for implementation of the internal notification procedure

The bill proposes to extend the deadline for the legal obligation to implement the internal notification procedure. The deadline is to be two months from the date of entry into force of the Act, rather than one month as previously proposed.

New mandatory element of the procedure

The amendments also include a new element in the catalogue of mandatory elements of the internal notification procedure. The draft adds to it the definition of an incentive system for the use of this procedure, which until now was to be optional. According to the draft, a new voluntary element of the procedure is the inclusion of information on the rules for safe and traceless filing in the IT system.

Sanctions

The draft also abandons the previously proposed punishment for attempting to obstruct notification. The current proposal is that only obstruction of notification is punishable by a fine or restriction of liberty.

The draft is at the opinion stage and has not yet been referred to the Sejm. Nevertheless, given the editorial nature of the proposed changes, as well as the deadline for implementation of the EU directive, a smooth legislative process can be expected.