New Whistleblower act in Germany

Starting on Sunday, July 2nd, a new law will go into effect in Germany, the largest European economy,  which protects employees who report wrongdoing from companies and institutions.

The Whistleblower Act affects companies with more than 50 employees as well as public authorities: in 2021, there mwere around 90,000 who fit into this category in the Bundesrepublik.

The legislation is long overdue, as Germany was supposed to put a corresponding EU directive into national law by December 2021.

When Germany didn’t meet its deadline, the EU Commission took Germany to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to ensure the groundbreaking law got put into force.

Whistleblowers who draw attention to misconduct in authorities and companies are to be protected from dismissal and harassment by the law. To this end, companies must create contact points that receive and process such reports confidentially.

Anyone who violates the law will face a fine of up to €50,000. An external reporting office will also be created at the Federal Office of Justice. Whistleblowers can decide whether to report violations internally or externally.

While hotlines for reporting wrongdoing are already common practice in many large companies, small and medium-sized companies still have to set up about 10,000 hotlines, according to the federal government’s draft law. Up to four companies could share one hotline.

A first draft by the government had been stopped by the Bundesrat, as the Christian Democratic (CDU)-led states feared an excessive financial burden on small and medium-sized enterprises.

While lawyer David Werdermann has called the directive a “milestone” for better protection of whistleblowers,  the procedural coordinator of the Society for Freedom (GFF) has criticised the final law. He said the compromises have watered down the law at a crucial point: failing to require anonymity.

more info about the  law at the German media : the local (press here)

new-economy.gr