Controversy over the Whistleblower Protection Act

There are opinions both among employers and lawyers that the provisions of the Whistleblower Protection Act are characterised by vagueness and inconsistency. Some critics also jump on the possible incompatibility of the Act with an EU directive.

Some lawyers are of the opinion that the Polish Act on the Whistleblower Protection does not meet the requirements of the EU Directive. According to some experts, both in the text of the Directive and in its justification one can find indications of the necessity for employers to be directly involved in the process of accepting reports. Others, however, point out that, according to the Directive, an employer should neither accept whistleblowing reports itself, nor clarify them.

If notifications were to be made entirely outside the employer’s knowledge and control, the division of notifications into internal and external would lose its meaning. Moreover, the directive encourages problems to be reported to the employer in the first instance to ensure that violations of the law are quickly responded to and effectively resolved – says Piotr Kryczek, Counsel at TGC Corporate Lawyers, in a comment to PulsHR.pl.

Article available only in Polish.

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