Home Knowledge Webinar: EU Whistleblowing Directive: Is Your Organisation Ready to Comply with the New Whistleblowing Rules?

Webinar: EU Whistleblowing Directive: Is Your Organisation Ready to Comply with the New Whistleblowing Rules?

 

William Fry was recently invited to participate in two webinars hosted by Franklin Paris, along with Cooley LLP, Magnusson, Molitor Avocats a la Cour SARL, Pavia e Ansaldo, Bartolome &Briones, AKD Benelux Lawyers and Atsumi & Sakai Europa Rechtsanwalts-und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft mbH. The webinars discussed the EU Whistleblowing Directive (the Directive) and provided cross-border insights on the transposition of the Directive. Catherine O’Flynn, Nuala Clayton and Rachel Hayes were panellists at 3 of the sessions and their sessions are available to view below. Videos of the full webinars can be accessed below:

Wednesday 8 June (link here)

  • Working session 1 – General presentation of the Directive (EU level)
  • Working session 2 – The EU directive from a non-EU perspective (views from the US, the UK and Japan)
  • Working session 3 – Insight on the basic principles of transposition laws in the EU countries – data protection / privacy aspects

Thursday 9 June (link here)

  • Working session 4 – Insight on the basic principles of transposition laws in the EU countries – labour aspects
  • Working session 5 – Practical recommendations to set up a whistleblowing system in a compliant way
  • Working session 6 – Answers to practical questions

As set out in our previous article (available here), Ireland is to transpose the Directive by way of amendments to the existing Irish protected disclosures framework as set out in the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022 (the 2022 Bill). The 2022 Bill is currently progressing through the legislative process and requires employers with 50+ employees to establish internal reporting channels and procedures for their workers to make protected disclosures. While a transitional period is to be available to organisations with 50 to 249 employees until 17 December 2023, employers with 250+ employees should be ready for the enactment of the 2022 Bill, as they will need to establish such reporting channels and procedures straightaway. This is also the case for companies in certain sectors relating to financial services, products and markets, the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, transport safety and the protection of the environment, and public bodies as they are already required to have internal procedures in place to deal with protected disclosures and so will not benefit from the transitional arrangements or the 50-employee threshold under the 2022 Bill.

Our Employment & Benefits team is here to help you navigate the proposed new legislation. For further information, please contact Catherine O’Flynn, Nuala Clayton, Rachel Hayes or your usual William Fry contact.