THE WHISTLEBLOWER CHANNEL IS NOW COMPULSORY FOR COMPANIES WITH MORE THAN 50 EMPLOYEES
Yesterday the Whistleblower Channel Bill was approved and the Law is now ready for publication in the State Official Bulletin (BOE). After the publication of the law, all obligated subjects will have three months to implement the complaints channel.
SUBJECTS OBLIGED TO IMPLEMENT A COMPLAINTS CHANNEL
- Individuals or legal entities in the private sector that have more than 50 employees.
- Legal persons from the private sector that fall within the scope of application of European Union acts in the area of financial services, products and markets, prevention of money laundering or terrorist financing, transport safety and environmental protection referred to in parts I.B and II of the annex to Directive (EU) 2019/1937, of the European Parliament and of the Council, of October 23, 2019.
- Political parties, unions, business organizations and foundations, provided they receive public funds for their financing.
- Public administrations, universities, societies, foundations, public corporations and all constitutional bodies of the public sector.
DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE WHISTLEBLOWER CHANNEL
After the publication of the Law, the deadlines for the implementation of the whistleblowing channel in companies are as follows:
- 3 months: Administrations, agencies, companies and other obligated entities
- December 1, 2023: legal entities of the private sector with less than 250 employees, as well as municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.
GUARANTEES THAT THE WHISTLEBLOWER CHANNEL MUST OFFER
- Anonymity, independence, confidentiality, data protection and secrecy of communications.
- Presentation of communications in writing or verbally, or both.
- A Policy that sets out the general principles of the Whistleblower Channel, complaints management procedure and their internal promotion.
- Appointment of a Data Protection Delegate.
- Appointment of a person in charge of the Whistleblower Channel and communicate their appointment and dismissal to the Independent Authority for the Protection of Informants, A.A.I. (except for an error not yet created, but it will be something similar to the AEPD) (or, where appropriate, to the competent authorities or bodies of the autonomous communities).
SANCTIONS FOR LACK OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE NEW WHISTLEBLOWER CHANNEL LAW
Individuals and legal entities that carry out, by fraud, any of the actions classified as offenses in article 63 of the Draft Bill will be subject to the penalty system established by law. Depending on the classification of the infraction, the sanctions are the following:
- Minor offense: from €10,000 to €100,000
- Serious offense: from €5,001 to €600,000
- Very serious offense: from €30,001 to €1,000,000
OUR SOFTWARE & PERMANENT ADVISORY
We have developed a software that is easy to use, compatible and customizable according to the needs of your company, in addition our compliance team is at your disposal at all times to support and guide you during the implementation process and to follow up on complaints and resolve any issue that arises.
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Contact us and we will inform you at mmb@uhy-fay.com or +34 91 426 07 23
