Organisations might have to comply with multiple European whistleblower protection legal regimes which apply differently. These laws will protect individuals, such as employees, who wish to speak out about unlawful or unethical practices witnessed within their organisation. Unless the individual’s report is excessive, they will be protected and must not suffer any detriment as a result of their report.
In November 2019, the EU Whistleblower Directive (the “Directive”) came into force. The Directive required EU Member States to implement the whistleblower protection regime in national law by December 2021; a deadline missed by many member states.
Complexity is presented by pre-existing and often industry-specific whistleblower protection law and practice in some countries which will likely influence the Directive’s local interpretation and application. Compliance in one member state or the UK therefore does not necessarily result in compliance in all other member states as well.
To help navigate at a high level the different approaches and traditions in the 16 listed member states (see last page), TELFA has prepared this jurisdictional overview
Get in touch with TELFA’s data protection practice group chair Alexander Dittel for further info.