Whistleblowing
On 17 December 2023, the legislation came into force that deals with the topic of reporting alleged corporate wrongdoing, in order to prevent and repress its commission. The law, of EU origin, aims to encourage the reporting of any wrongdoing and, at the same time, protect the whistleblower from any retaliation by the reported subject.
What is Whistleblowing?
Whistleblowing is a term that refers to thethe act of reporting or disclosing information regarding illegal, unethical or improper behavior within a company or organization. An employee who whistleblows may do so to expose illegal activity, corruption, discrimination, violations of rules, or other forms of improper conduct within the company where he or she works.
What is Whistleblowing?
Reportable offences are violations of national or community rules that harm the public interest or the integrity of the public administration or private entity (for example, harassment in the workplace, environmental protection, public health, consumer protection, protection of privacy and personal data, etc.)
The following are expressly excluded from the scope of the legislation:
- disputes/claims related to a personal interest of the whistleblower (for example, relating to his/her employment relationship)
- violations already regulated by other Community legislation
- national security related reports
- classified information
- professional secrecy (forensic and medical)
Who can report
The following subjects can report:
- employees of the public administration and public economic bodies
- private sector subordinate workers
- self-employed workers
- workers/collaborators, freelancers and consultants
- volunteers and interns
- shareholders and persons with administrative, management, control, supervisory or representative functions
How to report: internal channel
Illegal conduct can be reported through the internal channels set up by each company and that guarantee the confidentiality of the identity of the whistleblower and of the information transmitted.
To this end, Relatech has set up two secure internal channels:
Report in written form
Reporting in oral form
The management of Relatech's internal channels has been entrusted to the Relatech Supervisory Body.
How to report: external channel
The whistleblower may alternatively decide to use the external channel set up by ANAC and can be reached at the address https://www.anticorruzione.it/-/whistleblowing, in the following cases:
Sanctions
In case of failure to establish internal channels, retaliation against the whistleblower, violations of confidentiality of information, obstruction of reporting, etc., sanctions ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 euros are foreseen.
The whistleblower who incurs the crimes of defamation or calumny is liable to a fine of 500 to 2,500 euros.
The competent body for applying these sanctions is the ANAC.