Must municipalities with fewer than 10,000 residents and employing fewer than 50 persons prepare whistleblower documentation?

ANSWER

In accordance with the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers of 14 June 2024, establishing an internal reporting procedure is an obligation of an entity for which at least 50 persons perform paid work. Importantly, the number of 50 persons performing paid work for a legal entity includes employees calculated as full-time equivalents or persons performing work for remuneration on a basis other than an employment relationship. In other words, an entity for which fewer than 50 persons perform paid work (broadly understood) is not required to establish an internal reporting procedure, although it may of course do so if it deems this appropriate (Arts. 23 and 24 of the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers).

At the same time, we draw attention to the fact that for public authorities (which, pursuant to the aforementioned Act, include authorities of local government units), competent to take follow-up action in the areas referred to in Art. 3(1) of that Act, a number of obligations have been introduced regardless of the level of employment with respect to external reports, including the obligation to establish an external reporting procedure (Art. 33 in conjunction with Art. 2 of the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers).