HR In the Know 9/2024
On 24 June 2024 the Act of 14 June 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers (the “Act”) was published in the Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland. This means that the Act will enter into force on 25 September 2024, i.e. after three months from the date of publication (except for the provisions regarding external reports, which will enter into force after six months from the date of the publication of the Act). Therefore, there is little time left to adapt to the new regulations.
We informed you about particular drafts prepared during the works on the Act and the course of the legislative process in previous editions of HR In the Know 2/2024, 4/2024, 7/2024, 8/2024.
The most important actions that will need to be undertaken to comply with the provisions of the Act include:
- Implementation of an internal reporting procedure (the “Procedure”) by legal entities for which, as of 1 January or 1 July of a given year, at least 50 individuals perform paid work. This number includes not only employees, but also persons providing work under other legal bases, in particular under civil law contracts. Therefore, it will be necessary to verify the number of people providing paid work for a given employer, employed under employment contracts and other legal relationships, to determine whether the company is obliged to implement the Procedure. As a side note, it is also worth noting that such an obligation has not been imposed on legal entities employing fewer than 50 people, but they may optionally introduce their own Procedures.
- Conducting consultations of the Procedure with a trade union or trade unions if more than one exists within a legal entity, or with representatives of persons providing work for the legal entity, elected in accordance with the manner adopted by it, if there is no trade union. These consultations should last at least five days and no longer than 10 days from the date of presentation of the draft Procedure by the legal entity.
- Conducting elections of representatives of persons providing work for a legal entity for the purposes of consulting of the Procedure if there is no trade union within the entity. Please note that the above representative body should include not only employees, but also persons performing work on other legal bases (e.g. under civil law contracts). This means that conducting consultations with employees’ representatives selected for other matters arising from labour law provisions will not be possible.
- Providing the Procedure for the information of persons performing work within a given legal entity. Pursuant to the Act, the Procedure enters into force seven days after it has been provided to information of persons performing work in the manner adopted by the legal entity.
- Preparing templates of other documents required by the Act, including a register of internal reports, confirmation of receipt of the report and feedback, authorisation for persons receiving reports or conducting explanatory proceedings to process personal data, and confidentiality agreements.
Undertaking the above actions will only be possible only after the Act enters into force. However, the Act does not provide for a transition period. Therefore, there will be no additional time during which companies can adapt to the new obligations once the Act is in effect. Consequently, taking into account the number of actions to be undertaken and documents to be prepared, as well as their complexity, we recommend starting work during the three-month vacatio legis period. This will allow the aforementioned actions to be undertaken immediately after the Act enters into force.
Additionally, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, all employers (not only those obliged to implement the Procedure) will also be obliged to provide persons reporting breaches of the law with protection against retaliatory actions.
As a result of the above many employers are going to have a busy holiday season, because the list of obligations arising from the Act is long. Therefore, it will be necessary to undertake numerous actions to adapt to the new requirements, while there is very little time left until the new regulations come into force.
