Whistleblower protection
The Whistleblower Protection Act guarantees that no one can threaten or retaliate against you for making a report.
Protected whistleblower status
One of the main instruments for the protection of whistleblowers is the so-called Protected whistleblower status. If you file a criminal complaint, you may be granted protection by the prosecutor. If you blow the whistle on an administrative offence, you may be granted protection by the administrative authority that will investigate the offence.
Before applying for status, you need to consider whether it is the most appropriate form of protection for you in your situation. This is because it is not only the Whistleblower Protection Office that receives information about the status, but also your employer. If you do not want your identity to be disclosed, you can apply for confirmation of the filing of a criminal or administrative offence report instead of the status.
Protected whistleblower status provides a person with preventive protection against adverse employment action by an employer. If the employer wants to retaliate against the whistleblower by, for example, reassigning the whistleblower to a lower position or even by firing the whistleblower, he or she cannot do so without the consent of the Office. The Office will only grant the consent if it can prove that the proposed employment action is unrelated to the report, otherwise it will reject the employer's request. Similarly, the preventive protection does not provide protection from the consequences of the failures of an employee who is also a whistleblower. If an employee seriously breaches work discipline and the employer wishes to terminate the employment, the Office will grant consent with the termination if the employer demonstrates that the action is unrelated to the whistleblowing.
Subsequent protection
Another protection tool is the so-called Subsequent protectionIf a whistleblower does not have protected whistleblower status and there has already been an employment action with which the whistleblower disagrees, the Office may request a suspension within 15 days. Unless the employer can show that the planned action is unrelated to the whistleblowing, the Office will "freeze" the action for 30 days and the whistleblower must then apply for an urgent action.
In practice, this means that until the court finally decides on the validity or invalidity of the termination, the whistleblower continues to be employed and receive a salary. However, even during this period, the employee must continue to perform his or her duties properly.
Identity protection
All those who come into contact with a report of illegal activity are obliged to maintain confidentiality of the identity of the whistleblower. Whether it is the employer who is investigating the internal report or our office.
Protecting identity is our highest principle and if a whistleblower wishes to remain anonymous, we file criminal or administrative offence reports on behalf of the Office and do not disclose the name of the whistleblower. Likewise, we accept anonymous reports of illegal activity in the workplace.
