Whistleblowing Legislation
On Dec. 17, 2023, legislation came into effect that deals with the subject of reporting alleged wrongdoing in the corporate environment in order to prevent and suppress its commission.
The EU-originated law aims to encourage whistleblowing and, at the same time, protect the whistleblower from retaliation by the reported person.
WHAT IS WHISTLEBLOWING
Whistleblowing is a term that refers to the act of reporting or disclosing information regarding illegal, unethical or improper behavior within a company or organization. An employee who does whistleblowing may do so to expose illegal activity, corruption, discrimination, regulatory violations, or other forms of misconduct within the company in which he or she works.
WHAT WRONGDOING TO REPORT
Reportable offenses are violations of national or EU regulations that harm the public interest or integrity of the public administration or private entity (e.g., workplace harassment, environmental protection, public health, consumer protection, privacy and personal data protection, etc.).
Illeciti
They are expressly excluded from the scope of the regulations:
- challenges/claims related to a personal interest of the whistleblower (e.g. inherent to his or her employment relationship
- violations already covered by other community regulations
- reports related to national security
- classified information
- professional secrecy (forensic and medical)
WHO CAN REPORT
CHI PUO’ SEGNALARE
The following individuals may report:
- employees of the public administration and public economic entities
- employees in the private sector
- self-employed workers
- workers/collaborators, freelancers and consultants
- volunteers and trainees
- shareholders and persons with administrative, management, control, supervisory or representative functions
HOW TO REPORT: INTERNAL CHANNEL
Illicit conduct can be reported through the internal channels set up by each company and which guarantee the confidentiality of the identity of the reporter and the information transmitted.
To this end, Relatech has set up two secure internal channels:
make your report
contact telephone number: 02 4544971
Management of Relatech’s internal channels has been entrusted to the Relatech Supervisory Board (Studio Commercialisti Associati ABCF, via Albricci 8 – Milan)
HOW TO REPORT: EXTERNAL CHANNEL
The reporter alternatively may decide to use the external channel set up by ANAC and reachable at https://www.anticorruzione.it/-/whistleblowing, in the following cases:
- internal channel not available or not activated
- internal channel already used without any follow-up by the reporter
- the reporter fears that by using the internal channel, he or she would still suffer retaliation
- the reporter believes that the violation poses an imminent danger to the public interest.
SANCTIONS
Penalties of 10,000 to 50,000 euros are provided for failure to establish internal channels, retaliation on the whistleblower, violation of confidentiality of information, obstruction of reporting, etc.
A whistleblower who incurs the offenses of defamation or slander is penalized from 500 to 2,500 euros.
The organization competent to apply these sanctions is the ANAC.
Download the PDF version
See the document on Relatech S.p.A.’s Whistleblowing.