Transposition in France of the "Whistleblowers" Directive

published on 18 February 2022 | reading time approx. 2 minutes

The main changes under  the new law

The rights of whistleblowers are increased and whistleblowing is facilitated. Indeed, the protection of whistleblowers is better defined, a status of facilitator for legal and natural persons helping the whistleblower is created and the scope of the law is widened thanks to broader definitions.         

In addition, whistleblowers can now report directly to an external authority, rather than having to use the company's internal system first.

The practices to be put in place

Provide a system for collecting and processing reports

Companies with more than 50 employees are obliged to have a system for collecting and processing reports.

This obligation also applies to each subsidiary with more than 50 employees in groups having a global reporting system.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees are strongly encouraged to also have this type of system in place, as they too may be subject to alerts. In this case, it is clearly preferable for the company to have reports received internally, rather than made to an external authority.

As a reminder, such a system must have been subject to consultation with the employee representative bodies and must comply with the obligations regarding the processing and storage of personal data in accordance with the GDPR.

Encourage reporters to use the internal reporting channel first

The company must ensure that its system is effective and that all employees are aware of its existence.

Indeed, employees will be more likely to use the internal system (rather than turning to an external authority, let alone the media) if they have confidence in it.

Verify the effectiveness of the internal reporting system

An analysis of the statistics (number of alerts received, responses to alerts, processing time, etc.) makes it possible to verify the effectiveness of the internal reporting system. In addition, frequent communication on the internal alert system allows for a better understanding of the company's internal alert system, as a system can only be truly effective if it is understood by its users.

Be prepared to handle a greater volume of alerts and conduct internal investigations

The transposition of the directive aims to facilitate alerts. In addition, the possibility of turning directly to the external channel should also contribute to an increase in alerts. The company must anticipate these changes and ensure that its internal alert and investigation systems are correctly sized to effectively manage the alerts that may be made, through internal investigations.

Our compliance team, in liaison with our experts in employment law and GDPR, is at your disposal to carry out :

• a simple diagnosis of your device, if you already have one;
• bringing the internal alert system into line with the new law, if necessary
• a "turnkey" alert collection and processing system;
• More generally, a "quick check" of your compliance obligations according to your risk profile:
• Sapin II anti-corruption device;
• Third party evaluation device (possibly with dedicated software); 
• Review of ethics and compliance clauses in contracts;
• Procedures related to governance and compliance (e.g. code of conduct, conflicts of interest, antitrust, M&A, gifts & invitations, duty of care, GDPR, sanctions-embargos, etc.);
• Internal training (including tutorials or e-learning): anti-corruption, antitrust, duty of care, collection and processing of alerts