Whistleblowing postponed!

• Czech Republic

• Employment law

14-10-2021

The Whistleblower Protection Act could not be adopted in this election period and the Czech Republic will not meet the 17 December 2021 deadline to transpose the relevant EU directive. After the elections, the bill will have to be submitted by the new government, and in view of the controversy surrounding it (especially the extension to all offences, criminal acts or the increase in the number of compulsory employers compared to the directive), it is realistic to assume that the new and hopefully amended law will likely come into effect only sometime in 2023.

Under the directive itself, no obligations can be imposed on employers (except for the public sector) without the adoption of the Czech implementing act. This means that even employers with more than 25 employees have no legal obligation to introduce an internal reporting system, appoint a relevant person or fulfil other obligations imposed on them in most cases by 31 March 2022 under the whistleblower protection bill. Although it was already clear during the summer holidays that the whistleblower protection bill would fall by the wayside, many consulting firms continue their advertising campaign to this day, intimidating employers with non-existent fines and outdated information about the effectiveness of the new obligations.

Of course, we will continue to monitor the legislative situation and as soon as the final form and especially the effectiveness of the Czech implementation of the EU directive is known, we will inform our clients and offer them a practical solution in cooperation with our specialised partners on how to deal effectively with these obligations.