In the meantime, one new law follows another and companies can hardly keep up. The Whistleblower Protection Act(HinSchG), also affectionately referred to by us as the Scary Whispers Act 😉, was passed on 31.05.2023, promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette on 02.06.2023 and comes into force on 02.07.2023.
The HinSchG, has has it all. So something urgently needs to be done here. The only question is who has to to take action here and what needs to be done? But first, let's briefly clarify briefly what the HinSchG actually is.
What is the HinSchG?
The HinSchG serves to implement the Whistleblower Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1937) and aims to protect whistleblowers if they have obtained information about breaches in the course of their professional activities and report them. In short, it protects whistleblowers if they report breaches and have to fear reprisals.
The HinSchG regulates what kind of violations can be reported in order to benefit from the protection of the HinSchG (§ 2 HinSchG). These include, among others
- Fraud or infidelity,
- Accounting fraud or
- Violations of data protection and privacy,
- Discrimination and harassment,
- Money laundering,
- Health protection,
- Corruption,
- Consumer protection,
- Product safety,
- Environmental protection,
- award procedure or
- Road safety, etc.
In addition, the HinSchG regulates which exceptions exist, which fines are issued and: Who must set up a reporting office for whistleblowers, how it must be structured and what obligations are associated with the reporting office.
Who needs to take action?
There are two different ways to whom a whistleblower can turn. Either to an internal reporting office or to an external reporting office, whereby the latter is set up by the federal government or the respective state.
An internal reporting office must be set up by an employer pursuant to Section 12 para. 2 HinSchG if the employer generally has at least 50 employees. Exceptionally, the number of employees is not relevant if the company is active in corresponding areas, such as investment service providers, stock exchange operators, data provision services or capital management companies.
What to do do?
The respective company must therefore set up an internal reporting office that enables the whistleblower to report information in accordance with the HinSchG without prejudice and confidentially.
The company has a number of things to consider. Firstly, it may only deploy employees who can carry out their work independently (i.e. who do not have to fear any negative consequences if the reported information is processed) and who also have the necessary specialist knowledge. This means that the internal reporting office must assess whether the report constitutes a violation under the HinSchG and whether the report is valid. The internal reporting office must also take appropriate follow-up measures.
There is liability potential and companies are well advised to obtain sufficient training and training and to start thinking now about how the implementation can take place. Above all, it is not enough to purchasing software and setting it up. A great deal needs to be implemented be implemented. It has to be clarified who processes the cases internally and cases internally and individually, how it can be ensured that the processors are adequately trained and how the confidentiality obligations can be complied with. can be complied with.
By when must must be acted upon?
From 02.07.2023, companies with at least 250 employees must have set up the "internal reporting office".
From 17.12.2023, companies with at least 50 employees must have set up the "internal reporting office".
Fines will but also for companies with at least 250 employees only from 01.12.2023 will be levied.
Training
Of course, we also offer online training on this topic.
The next date is on 19.09.2023 from 13.30 - 16.30.
Please send your registration to info (at) anwaltskanzlei-online. de
More information on this will follow shortly on our homepage under "Seminars".
If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
