Whistleblower Protection Act

The Whistleblower Protection Act came into force on July 2, 2023. Since this deadline, companies with 250 or more employees must have set up internal whistleblower systems for appropriate whistleblower protection. Companies with 50 to 249 employees will follow on December 17, 2023.

 

The tasks of the internal reporting office are:

- Operating reporting channels

- Processing incoming reports

- Taking necessary follow-up actions

 

The internal reporting point can consist of one or more employees or, as an outsourced internal reporting point, a service provider with insight into the company structure and knowledge of the (legal) regulations relevant to the company, e.g. B. a suitably knowledgeable lawyer (see Sander, “The Whistleblower Protection Act - Notes on implementation in pharmaceutical companies”, PharmInd, issue 9/2023 and Sander/Runge, “Is now the time of the whistleblower?”, MPZ, issue 5/2023).

 

The Sander & Krüger law firm supports its clients in setting up an internal reporting office and also offers clients the opportunity to act as a reporting office representative. An email address will be set up exclusively for reports from whistleblowers. Companies can use this address as an outsourced internal reporting point as part of a service contract.