Whistleblowing

The Whistleblowing Act covers reports on the following matters:

• breaches of EU law as defined in the EU Whistleblowing Directive;
• serious breaches of law (eg, theft, sexual harassment, hacking); and
• other serious matters (eg, significant and/or repeated breaches of internal guidelines).

Serious breaches of the law and other serious matters may be included too if the breach is a matter of public interest. Reports on more trivial or petty matters, including reports on the whistleblower's employment relationship, are not generally covered.

Whistleblower units must consider whether a report qualifies as a relevant matter on a case-by-case basis.

Certain types of reports are de facto excluded from the scope of the Whistleblower Act, including reports with information covered by a special duty of confidentiality for lawyers and healthcare personnel, classified national security information, and criminal proceedings.

The Whistleblower Protection Act´s  material scope of application goes beyond European legal requirements. It extends the material scope of application to all violations that are subject to punishment (section 2 (1) No. 1 HinSchG). Additionally, violations subject to fines are included insofar as the violated regulation serves to protect life, body, health or the rights of employees or their representative bodies (section 2 (1) No. 2 HinSchG). The last alternative covers not only regulations that directly serve occupational health and safety or health protection, but also related notification and documentation requirements, for example under the Minimum Wage Act. Thus, as a result, section 2 (2) No. 2 HinSchG covers the majority of administrative offences in the context of employment.

Finally, the Whistleblower Protection Act also provides for a list of infringements that predominantly correspond to the relevant areas of law according to the recitals of the EU Whistleblower Directive.