What your organisation needs to know and do to comply with the new whistleblower legislation.
The European Whistleblower’s Directive (2019/1937 (EU)) of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law has been implemented in Belgian law, obliging both the private and public sector to foresee in reporting mechanisms and protection for whistleblowers.
For the private sector, the Law of 28 November 2022 on the protection of persons who report breaches of national or Union law within legal entities in the private sector (the “Whistleblower Act”) was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 15 December 2022.
Whilst companies with between 50 and 249 employees have time until 17 December 2023 to set up an internal whistleblowing channel, companies with 250 employees or more and companies active in the financial sector or subject to AML laws (regardless their size) will have to comply as of the entry into force of the legislation on 15 February 2023.
For the public sector, the federal Law of 8 December 2022 foresees that all federal government institutions and all institutions depending on the federal government that do not belong to the private sector will have to comply with the obligations of the new Whistleblower’s Directive.
On the regional level, similar regulation has been adopted, replacing the limited rules that were already in place. This legislation generally entered into force on 2 January 2023.
Organisations, both private and public, can therefore no longer postpone undertaking action. Our seminar will focus on both sectors and address the key obligations pursuant to this new legislation.
During this seminar, Senior Associates Dorien Taeymans (IP/IT/Data Protection), Bruno Aguirre (Employment & Benefits) and Associate Louise Janssens (Regulatory), will guide you through the key points of attention for Belgian private and public sector organisations from a data protection, employment and public law perspective.
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