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What can a whistleblower report?
On 24 June 2024, the Whistleblowers Protection Act was published in the Journal of Laws. After a delay of several years, Poland - as the last European Union country - implemented the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) on the protection of whistleblowers into its legal order. Thus, the period of vacatio legis, which is three months for most provisions, commenced. They will enter into force at the end of September 2024.
The Act allows whistleblowers to make reports or public disclosures if they identify violations of the branches of law set out in the Act. It is therefore worth answering the seemingly trivial question of what matters a report can address.
On 1 July 2024, another amendment to the Act of 12 March 2022 on assistance to citizens of Ukraine in connection with the armed conflict in that country will come into force. It introduces a number of important changes concerning the legality of residence and employment of Ukrainian citizens in Poland.
Changes regarding stay
The most important change in the amendment is an extension until 30 September 2025 of:
- the period of legal residence in Poland of Ukrainian citizens under temporary protection (who arrived legally in Poland starting from 24 February 2022 and declared their intention to stay in Poland),
Care leave, introduced into the Labour Code on 26 April 2023 is an employee entitlement that appeared relatively recently in the Polish legal order (we wrote about its granting in the article Care Leave). As a result, there is still no established case law or practice on the application of provisions defining rules for its granting. Nevertheless, every employer should consider appropriate solutions if receiving a request from an employee for care leave.
Exit interviews, namely interviews which employers hold with employees whose employment is ending, are widely used by HR departments and may provide useful information regarding managing the workplace. In today’s piece, we will take a look at exit interviews from the perspective of data protection legislation.
On 23 May 2024, Parliament adopted the long-awaited draft law on the protection of whistleblowers (which is supposed to implement the European Parliament (EU) Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of the rights of whistleblowers of 23 October 2019). After more than two years after the deadline for implementing the EU legislation, it seems likely that employers (and whistleblowers) will finally live to see legislation that has caused them so much concern.
Admittedly, the bill still must be passed by the Senate and then signed by the President before it can enter into force. However, many significant changes to its content are unlikely.
The draft law provides for a broad package of criminal sanctions and claims for persons to whom its provisions have been incorrectly applied. In view of the imminent entry into force of the whistleblower provisions, it is certainly worthwhile to become familiar with the potential consequences of violating them.
By 17 May 2024, employers must adapt workstations that existed before 17 November 2023 to the new OHS and ergonomics requirements resulting from the amended provisions of the Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 1 December 1998 on Occupational Health & Safety at Workplaces Equipped with Display Screen Monitors.
The creation of a new workstation as of 17 November 2023 means that the employer must apply the amended legislation from the outset.