The Whistleblower Directive - and how to easily implement it in Ziik with Walor

Do you have 50+ employees, but no whistleblower scheme? What is the new legislation? What can I do to comply with the new legislation? Which whistleblower software should I choose? We give you the answers to those questions and many more below. You can also learn more about how we support you through our partnership with Walor.

Legislation and the whistleblower directive

Whistleblower directive. These words have been on many an agenda and brought up in many board meetings throughout 2021, following the EU Directive (EU) 2019/1937, which came back in force in 2019. EU member states then had two years to implement the directive into their own legislation.

Who is covered?

Who is covered by the Directive is clearly defined. Any company with 50+ employees. Two further deadlines have been set for setting up an internal whistleblowing mechanism within the companies. The first classification is companies with 250+ employees. Here, the deadline for implementation is 17 December, 2021, at the latest. The second classification is enterprises with 50-250 workers. Here, the deadline for implementation is 17 December, 2023 at the latest. However, when implementing the Directive in their own legislation, individual EU Member States may set implementation deadlines earlier than the two deadlines.

Procedures for processing and following up

The Whistleblowing Directive further sets out a number of procedures for dealing with reports. For example, the whistleblower must receive a response/acknowledgement of receipt of the report within 7 days. The whistleblower must then also be informed, within a reasonable time and not exceeding 3 months, of what has been done. An important point of the Directive is that the identity of the whistleblower must be able to remain anonymous at the whistleblower’s request. This places a number of requirements on the company's whistleblower software. The Directive protects the whistleblower after the notification has been sent, if the whistleblower is covered by the whistleblower scheme. The company's procedures must be written into a whistleblower policy, which all employees must have access to.

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Compliance, well-being and an extra voice for employees

The new legislation represents both a new area of the compliance landscape, but, in particular, also a first step towards a general change of attitude in European companies. A change towards a free and safe feedback culture that can help create happier employees and safer workplaces, where management can help with otherwise unspoken issues. 

In Walor, they say the whistleblower legislation has given employees an extra voice to speak up with when something goes wrong. Meanwhile, the management has a new whistleblower software tool to detect unspoken problems, help and create a healthy working environment for the company's employees, as well as limit losses due to fraud, for example.

The anonymous whistleblower and an insurance policy for companies

The key principle of anonymity in the Directive creates a new form of feedback and communication where the whistleblower can feel safe and heard by his or her company. An employee who has experienced an incident or observed circumstances covered by the whistleblower scheme will need to consider a number of questions before reporting the incident: Can I be suspected as an accomplice? How will my colleagues or managers view me after I have disclosed information? Could going ahead with a case have future consequences for my employment? With the ability to be 100% anonymous, employees can speak up when something is wrong to those who can do something about it, without being burdened by those uncomfortable questions. The whistleblower can feel safe, due to the part in the Directive that provides protection against retaliation. If the report is within the scope of the whistleblower scheme, the whistleblower is protected against future consequences as a result of the report. The Directive includes protection against retaliation such as dismissal, suspension, demotion, failure to promote, change in working hours and duties, reduction in pay, intimidation, harassment and social exclusion at work. 

On the other hand, you protect yourself as a company against unspoken problems that can grow in size and which you can't deal with because you're not aware of them. In popular terms, the whistleblower scheme can be compared to an insurance policy. It's really good to have when you need it.

Integration between Ziik and Walor

Implementing compliant whistleblower software can be a challenge if you have to do everything yourself. That's why Ziik has teamed up with Walor, a secure, user-friendly and compliant whistleblowing system. 

Our cooperation makes implementing the whistleblower scheme nice and simple, and it can be done directly in Ziik. Walor will produce a whistleblower policy for you, which is uploaded in Ziik as a handbook, with which the whistleblower scheme is implemented in the company. The employee will then be able to go directly from the whistleblower policy, or a link in Ziik, to the whistleblower system.

Compliant whistleblower scheme directly in Ziik

As a Ziik customer, it is possible to implement your whistleblower system securely and easily via our integration with Walor.

And we have also made sure that you, as Ziik customers, can get your whistleblower scheme with a special deal.

Find out more about Walor at https://www.walor.io/