THE PROTECTION OF "PUBLIC INTEREST WITNESSES" - "WHISTLE-BLOWERS" AT WORK.
I. Law 4990/2022 – Protective Framework.
Any person, directly connected with a certain body (business or organization), may, during his work relationship and in general in the context of his professional activity, be informed and become aware of facts, actions and omissions of the body, which pose a risk and harm the public interest and social welfare. Until the publication of Law 4990/2022, the persons who made disclosures of this type of information were not adequately protected, with the result that the violations were mostly kept silent and the petitioners received various kinds of retaliation, such as termination of their employment contract, threats, salary reductions, etc.
However, Law 4990/2022 creates a protective framework for any natural person who wishes to make such a disclosure. These persons are called "public interest witnesses" or "whistleblowers" and may be employees in the public or private sector, regardless of their type of employment, posted or not, self-employed, self-employed, consultants, shareholders, executive and non-members, volunteers, (un)paid interns, as well as any person working under the supervision and instructions of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. In addition, the protective scope of Law 4990/2022 also applies to any person, whose employment relationship with the organization has either already ended or has not even begun, but became aware of such violations, during the process of negotiations and recruitment. Finally, mediators, colleagues and relatives of the complainants are protected from the above reports and public disclosures, as well as personal businesses or legal entities that serve the interests of the "whistleblowers", provided that they have assisted the "whistleblower" in any way in the disclosure of the violations . The above persons are not protected for everything they disclose, but only for reports concerning the following violations, limited to the law: public contracts, financial services, products and markets, as well as the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing; product safety and compliance, transport security, environmental protection, radiation protection and nuclear safety, food and feed safety, as well as animal health and welfare, public health, consumer protection, protection of privacy and personal data, as well as the security of network and information systems, of violations that affect the financial interests of the Union.
II. Methods of Notifying Violations - Definition
The "whistleblower" can disclose the violation he was informed of, first of all, with a report (written, oral or through a special electronic platform of the organization) either to a responsible person of the organization - employer (internal report) or before the National Transparency Authority (external reference), regardless of whether the referent has already submitted an internal reference.
The internal report is addressed to the Report Receipt Officer (R.R.O.), whom both private and public sector bodies are required to designate as follows:
The private sector:
i. with less than 50 employees only have the option of appointing a R.R.O., but not the obligation.
ii. with employed staff from 50 to 249 employees are required to appoint a R.R.O. by 17.12.2023, notifying the Labor Inspectorate within two (2) months of the appointment.
iii. with employ staff of more than 249 employees are required to appoint a R.R.O. within a period of six (6) months from 11.11.2022 and notify the relevant Labor Inspectorate within two (2) months of the appointment.
iv. that are active in the financial services, products and markets, transport and environment sectors and in general in sectors that can cause a risk to the environment and public health are required to designate R.R.O.
The public sector :
i. with employed staff up to 49 employees are designated as R.R.O. the Integrity Advisor of their supervising Ministry, in other words the H.P.A of the supervising Ministry, within six (6) months from 11.11.2022.
ii. with an employed staff of more than 50 employees, they appoint as R.R.O. the Integrity Advisor of their supervising Ministry, while in the event that this position is not established, one of their employees (permanent or with an IDAX relationship), within six (6) months from 11.11.2022.
In all cases, the R.R.O. must, on the one hand, confirm to the "whistleblower" that he received his report within seven (7) days from the date of receipt, and on the other hand, inform him about the course of his case within three ( 3) months from the above certificate. In addition, the R.R.O. is obliged to examine reports respecting the personal data of the "whistleblower" and keeping his identity confidential.
In addition, whistleblowers can choose to disclose the breach, instead of reporting through public disclosure (e.g. before a journalist), only if they have made an internal and/or external report, but the body or the E.A.D., respectively, were inactive or if the "whistleblower" reasonably believes that the violation constitutes an imminent risk to the public interest, an emergency, a risk of irreversible damage, or that his report before the Public Prosecutor's Office or the E.A.D. may cause retaliation against him.
III. Protection from Retaliation
Under the previous regime, whistleblowers faced various types of retaliation for reporting wrongdoing: threats, intimidation, moral harassment, retaliation, termination, dismissal, demotion or non-promotion, reprimand, disciplinary action, intentional harm, such as insulting person's reputation, early termination or cancellation of a contract for goods or services.
With Law 4990/2022, whistleblowers are protected from this type of retaliation, as long as, on the one hand, they disclose violations in one of the above ways (internal or external reporting, public disclosure), on the other hand, they base the disclosure on facts that are true and valid or that even if they create reasonable suspicions about the commission of the respective violation. At the same time, whistleblowers are entitled to free legal advice and psychological support.
Until the end of the investigation of the report, the "whistleblowers" are not responsible for a breach of the duty of secrecy or confidentiality, which they must indicate to the body, regarding the way they obtained the information about the committed violation, while any civil, criminal , disciplinary or administrative proceedings have been initiated against them for this fact.
If, despite all this, they are retaliated against, they are entitled to full compensation, as long as they prove that these have caused them harm.
IV. Sanctions
If the organization does not designate a PPE or violates any of its other obligations, the competent bodies of the Labor Inspection may impose an administrative fine. In fact, an administrative fine of between €10,000 and €500,000 is imposed if the reported violation was carried out for the benefit or on behalf of a legal entity.
In addition, a prison sentence and a fine are imposed on a) anyone who obstructs or attempts to obstruct the submission of a report, violation, b) retaliates against the “whistleblower” and c) does not respect the confidentiality of the identity of the “whistleblowers”.
Finally, anyone who knowingly makes false reports or public disclosures is punished with a prison sentence of up to two (2) years and a fine.