• Status of employment: The manner of counting the level of employment has been clarified - the procedure for accepting whistleblower notifications will have to be introduced by entities employing, as at January 1^st or July 1^st, at least 50 persons, taking into account both employees (full-time equivalents) and other persons performing paid work for the entity on another basis (e.g. B2B contract, service contract, 'commission' contract, etc.), as long as they do not employ subcontractors.
   
• Anonymous reports: Each entity accepting whistleblower reports will have to decide for itself whether it allows anonymous reports. If an entity decides to accept anonymous reports, it will have to set out the procedure for dealing with such reports in its internal reporting procedure.
   
• Protection of the whistleblower: It is clarified in the new draft bill that a whistleblower is already protected from the moment of making a report or public disclosure, provided that the whistleblower had reasonable grounds to believe that the information that is the subject of the report or public disclosure is true at the time of making the report or public disclosure and that it constitutes information on a legal violation.
   
• Compensation: The bill introduces more detailed rules on the amount of compensation for a whistleblower who has been retaliated against in violation of the proposed law. The whistleblower is to be entitled to compensation in an amount not lower than 12 times the average monthly salary in the national economy in the previous year, as well as the right to redress.
   
• Vacatio legis: It has been proposed that the Act enter into force 3 months after the date of its promulgation, with the exception of the provisions of Chapter 4 (dedicated to external reporting), which are to enter into force 6 months after the date of promulgation.

The exact date of referral of the draft to the Lower House is not yet known.

The text of the draft is available on the website of the Government Legislation Centre: >>>