Whistleblowing
Contributing Editors
In this new age of accountability, organisations around the globe are having to navigate a patchwork of new laws designed to protect those who expose corporate misconduct. IEL’s Guide to Whistleblowing examines what constitutes a protective disclosure, the scope of regulations across 24 countries, and the steps businesses must take to ensure compliance with them.
Learn more about the response taken in specific countries or build your own report to compare approaches taken around the world.
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04. Is there a specific sanction if whistleblowing procedures are absent within the Company?
04. Is there a specific sanction if whistleblowing procedures are absent within the Company?
Austria
Austria
- at GERLACH
- at GERLACH Rechtsanwälte
Both companies and whistleblowers can be fined up to 20,000 euro (40,000 euro for repeated offences) per violation. Examples of sanctionable acts include obstructing whistleblowers, retaliation, breach of confidentiality or the deliberate submission of false information.
Germany
Germany
- at Oppenhoff
- at Oppenhoff
If there are no whistleblowing procedures in the company (ie, an internal reporting system is not implemented and operated), this constitutes an administrative offence punishable by a fine. This fine may amount to up to 20,000 EUR (section 40 (2) No. 2, (5) HinSchG).
At this point, it should be noted that there is a high incentive for employers to implement an internal reporting channel, since the external reporting channel is available to the whistleblower in any case. Consequently, if an internal reporting office were not implemented or operated, the whistleblower would be forced to report directly to the external reporting office. As a result, the employer would not be able to make internal corrections without the reported information leaving the company.