Protection of Whistleblowers in the Workplace. Who Is Protected and Who Is Responsible under the Provisions of the EU Directive 2019/1937?

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to present selected problems related to the transposition into national law of the provisions of the Directive (EU) 2019/1937 which define the personal scope of its application. The author focuses on the prerequisites for recognising a given person as a whistleblower (reporting person) and including them in the circle of protected persons. Among other things, he considers issues related to the Directive’s departure from the recognition of acting in good faith and in the public interest as conditions for the protection of a whistleblower, as well as the relevance for the protection of a whistleblower of the obligation to report breaches existing in some national laws. He also argues that the relationship that whistleblowers enter into with the organisation affected by the whistleblowing, referred to in the English version as a “work-based relationship”, cannot be equated, as other language versions do, with an employment relationship. The author also proposes, following earlier postulates, to extend the personal scope of protection of facilitators. He also attempts to clarify the notion of “legal entity” as the main entity responsible for the creation and functioning of internal channels. He further postulates more complete regulation in national legislation of the rules of liability of entities responsible for fulfilling the obligations imposed by the Directive.