A whistleblower must sometimes make difficult decisions before reporting a breach of law that may significantly affect his or her situation. Therefore, in order to protect whistleblowers, the directive of 23 October 2019, commonly known as the Whistleblower Directive, has been introduced. Nevertheless, the Whistleblower Directive does not cover all the aspects regarding the protection of whistleblowers, leaving a certain degree of discretion to national governments.<\/p>\n
Poland has not yet implemented the Whistleblower Directive and, as legislative work on the bill is currently underway, it is difficult to predict the final form of the Whistleblowers Act.\u00a0 However, it is worth mentioning that a new bill was presented on 6 April 2022, introducing several developments compared to the previous bill of 14 October 2021.<\/p>\n
The changes introduced to the new bill substantially affect its scope of application, i.e. from the entity that has to introduce the internal whistleblowing procedure (it is not only an employer who employs more than 50 people based on an employment contract) to its application in practice.<\/p>\n
An example is the removal of the option to accept anonymous reports. In the previous bill, the employer could decide whether it will accept and follow up on anonymous reports of breaches from a John Doe. This is not possible in the new bill, which means that Poland, pursuant to Recital 34 of the Whistleblower Directive, has decided not to accept anonymous reports. The grounds of the new bill presents practical and functional arguments concerning the possibility of contacting anonymous whistleblowers and preventing potential unfounded reports.<\/p>\n