The deadline for implementing the Whistleblower Channel for companies with more than 50 workers ends on Friday, December 1.
In accordance with the second transitory provision of Law 2/2023 of February 20, December 1 is the deadline for the establishment of a whistleblower channel for private sector companies with between 50 and 249 workers.
The fundamental purpose of a whistleblower channel is, in addition to complying with current legislation, to provide a secure and confidential means for employees and other stakeholders to safely report any misconduct or irregularities they detect.
The process of implementing a whistleblowing channel in a company involves the following steps:
- Select the type of whistleblowing channel management, whether internal or externally managed
- Determine the communication channels to be used
- Drafting the rules or policy for the whistleblower channel
- Designate a person responsible for the complaints channel
- Appointing a Data Protection Officer (DPO)
- Establish the method for receiving, managing, processing and investigating complaints
- Maintain a record of all complaints received, resolved and archived
- Publicize the existence of the whistleblower channel in the company.
Failure to comply with this obligation may lead to the imposition of fines of:
a) Up to 10,000 euros for minor infringements, up to 30,000 euros for serious infringements and up to 300,000 euros for the commission of very serious infringements, if natural persons are responsible for the infringements
b) If they are legal persons, up to 100,000 euros in the case of minor infringements, up to 600,000 euros in the case of serious infringements and up to 1,000,000 euros in the case of very serious infringements.
