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Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing is a tool through which individuals can report potential violations, misconduct, or fraud witnessed in their work environment, with the aim of protecting the integrity of their organization, preventing and countering improper or illegal behavior.

In Italy, the regulation of whistleblowing has recently been redesigned by Legislative Decree No. 24/2023, implementing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 concerning the protection of individuals who report violations of Union law and provisions relating to the protection of individuals reporting violations of national regulations (the so called “Whistleblowing Decree”).

The Whistleblowing Decree requires companies to:

Implement internal reporting channels;
Adopt procedures for reporting and managing whistleblowing cases;
Ensure measures to protect whistleblowers, such as confidentiality of their identity and protection from retaliation.

Obligated Companies

This obligation applies to all companies (and other private entities) that:

In the last year, employed an average of at least 50 employees with indefinite or fixed-term contracts, regardless of the industry;
Have adopted an organizational model under Legislative Decree No. 231/2001, regardless of the number of employees or the industry;
Are within the scope of European Union acts (listed in the annex to the Decree) concerning services, products, and financial markets, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, transportation safety, and environmental protection, regardless of the number of employees.

The Whistleblowing Decree thus has a significant and immediate impact on company organization. The mandatory implementation of reporting channels requires careful consideration of various compliance issues, corporate governance, risk management, data protection, cybersecurity, and workers' rights.

We can assist you in properly implementing your whistleblowing system, thanks to a multidisciplinary team of professionals experienced in compliance, corporate law, criminal law, labor law, data protection, and cybersecurity.

Our consultancy covers all stages of implementing the whistleblowing system with a multidisciplinary and international approach. In particular, we focus on the following activities:

Legal assistance to verify the applicability of whistleblowing regulations, even within multinational groups, and assess related corporate governance profiles;
Legal consultancy for the development of whistleblowing channels, including privacy and cybersecurity profiles;
Support and/or assistance in the trade union consultation procedure for the adoption of internal channels;
Drafting of whistleblowing policies/procedures and regulations for managing reports;
Impact assessment of the whistleblowing process on personal data processing, drafting and reviewing privacy documentation;
Drafting of policies and informational communications on whistleblowing, also in legal design;
Specific training on whistleblowing and managing reports;
External ombudsman role for receiving and managing reports;
Legal support in internal investigations following whistleblowing reports;
Legal assistance in disciplinary proceedings.

Contact

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Paolo Peroni

Attorney at law (Italy)

Partner

+39 02 6328 841

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