Topic: Whistleblowing

What to expect in employment law in Germany in 2022

Legal innovations Amended regulations apply to this year’s works council elections taking place from March 1 to May 31, 2022. Pursuant to Section 24 (2) of the Election Regulations of October 8, 2021 (BGBl. I 4640/2021), HR departments are required to provide, in addition to the typical employee data used to draw up the electoral … Continue reading

What is the real reason for dismissal?

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on December 2, 2019 Posted in UK, Whistleblowing

The Supreme Court in the UK has held in the case of Royal Mail Group Ltd v Jhuti that, where the real reason for dismissal is a protected disclosure which has been hidden from the person determining the dismissal, by a person in a position of responsibility, the dismissal is automatically unfair, even where the … Continue reading

Extension of whistleblowing protection

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on October 18, 2019 Posted in UK, Whistleblowing

Workers in the UK are protected from suffering a detriment where they have made a protected disclosure under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). To be protected under section 47B ERA 1996 the individual must be a worker as defined by s203(3) of that Act. A recent decision of the Supreme Court considered whether … Continue reading

New EU rules for protection of whistleblowers

By Cornelia Marquardt on October 10, 2019 Posted in Contracts, Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, Whistleblowing

On 7 October 2019, the EU Council formally adopted the new Whistleblowing Directive that will guarantee whistleblowers EU-wide standards of protection. The Directive obliges both public and private organisations and authorities to set up secure reporting channels, so that whistleblowers can report violations of EU law as safely as possible. Member States have two years … Continue reading

Do managers typically think of personal liability when making decisions to dismiss? They perhaps should

By Paul Griffin (UK) on November 15, 2018 Posted in General, UK, Whistleblowing

Directors and senior managers and their employers should consider the recent Court of Appeal decision in the Osipov whistleblowing case very carefully. Briefly, by way of scene-setting, Osipov had made a series of protected disclosures and he was ultimately dismissed as CEO of the employer company pursuant to a decision of two non-executive directors (NEDS) … Continue reading

Dismissal for misconduct cannot be based (solely) on anonymous reports

By Elodie Grangier on September 26, 2018 Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France, Whistleblowing

Anonymous reports have been mistrusted for a number of years in France, for historical reasons. While anonymity enables individuals to raise their voice more openly, without being the targets of retaliation measures, it can also drift into slander. This explains a specificity of French law under which whistleblowers using ethicals lines are strongly encouraged to … Continue reading

Norton Rose Fulbright’s online guide to global employment law is now available

By Sally Woodward and Joanna MacKenzie on February 15, 2018 Posted in Asia Pacific, Contracts, Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, South Africa, Uncategorized, United States, Whistleblowing

More and more organisations are growing their global footprint and need to move their people around the world. In this global environment, it is essential to know, understand and comply with employment and labour laws in place across all of the jurisdictions in which organisations engage people. This will help to protect business from unnecessary … Continue reading

Australian Parliament considering new “whistleblowing” laws

By Abigail McGregor, David Cross and Jacob Smit on February 4, 2018 Posted in Asia Pacific, Australia, Whistleblowing

In late December 2017, the Australian Government tabled a Bill aimed at improving protection for whistleblowers in the corporate, financial, credit and tax sectors. If passed, the new legislation will result in a range of changes taking effect from 1 July 2018.… Continue reading

Employment Law and Financial Institutions

By Stefanie Radina on January 26, 2018 Posted in Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, Germany, Whistleblowing

In the financial sector, in addition to individual employment contracts, working conditions can be subject to various industry related statutes and regulations, collective bargaining agreements and works agreements. Laws and regulations As a reaction to the global financial crisis, the participants of the 2008 G20 summit in Washington, including Germany, agreed on the establishment and … Continue reading

Criminal Finances Act 2017 – Employers liability

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on October 3, 2017 Posted in UK, Whistleblowing

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 came into force in the UK on 30 September 2017. It introduces new corporate criminal offences of failing to prevent an employee, agent or any other person who is performing services for the organisation from criminally facilitating the evasion of tax, whether the tax is owed in the UK or in … Continue reading

Whistleblowing – what amounts to the public interest?

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on July 14, 2017 Posted in Europe, UK, Whistleblowing

A recent Court of Appeal decision has confirmed that a disclosure which is in the private interest of the worker can still be considered to be in the ‘public interest’ and therefore fall within the whistleblower protection included in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998. However, it did confirm that any decision will depend on … Continue reading

New protection of French whistleblowers under the Sapin II Law

By Elodie Grangier on February 3, 2017 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France, Whistleblowing

Much attention was focused recently on President Obama’s decision, in the final days of his presidency, on commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who provided certain classified information to WikiLeaks. In France, new legislation has recently been passed and implemented harmonizing the protection of whistleblowing employees (https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do;jsessionid=4BBFD240827AF0FD9A6340FF254E6F1B.tpdila21v_3?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000033558528&categorieLien=id). Who is concerned? Under the new regulation, whistleblowers … Continue reading

What are the latest developments on whistleblowing in the workplace?

By Isabella Gandini on July 5, 2016 Posted in Colombia, Whistleblowing

The legislation relating to whistleblowing in the workplace can involve claims for labor harassment, crimes in the work place, corruption, non – fulfilment of regulations relating to outsourcing, hiring of foreign employees, the Health Committee responsible for supervising health and safety matters, amongst others. Article 23 of the National Constitution, Article 24 of the … Continue reading

New whistleblowing rules for regulated entities in the UK

By Nick Howard on June 28, 2016 Posted in Europe, UK, Whistleblowing

In October 2015 the UK regulators, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), released new whistleblowing rules for certain regulated entities in the UK (the New Rules). The New Rules impose obligations on these entities in addition to the requirements of existing whistleblowing legislation found in the Public Interest Disclosure Act … Continue reading

“What are the latest developments on whistleblowing in the workplace in Germany?”

By Jannis Breitschwerdt on June 20, 2016 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, Germany, Whistleblowing

Apart from the well-known Wiki-leaks, recent prominent cases of whistleblowing such as Lux-leaks, the Panama Papers or the case of the German geriatric nurse Brigitte Heinisch, who was dismissed after revealing the ill-treatment of elderly people in a Berlin retirement home, continue to highlight the continued relevance of the topic “whistleblowing”. While this has resulted … Continue reading

Launch of the new Global Workplace Report

By Barbara D'Aquila, Margaret Rudolph (US), John Mastoras, Claire Darbourne (UK), Amanda Sanders (UK), Annette van Beers, Maartje Govaert and Karen Ainslie (ZA) on June 2, 2016 Posted in General, Whistleblowing

The Global Workplace Report is a monthly summary of our most popular blog articles from our Global Workplace Insider blog. This report provides concise commentary and insight essential for employers that want to stay current on the legal and business developments and trends impacting employment and labor matters globally. Global employment and labor trends United … Continue reading

Retaliation and whistleblower claims in healthcare expected to remain high

By Dennis Jackson (US) and Jamila Mensah (US) on May 18, 2016 Posted in United States, Whistleblowing

The number of retaliation and whistleblower claims in the US continue to rise. According to data released by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), retaliation claims made up 44.5 percent of all charges filed in 2015. Also, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported a 6 percent increase in the number of whistleblower cases … Continue reading

2016 Defend Trade Secrets Act creates federal cause of action for theft of trade secrets

By James Hughes on April 28, 2016 Posted in United States, Whistleblowing

(and don’t forget to update your handbooks or employment agreements) Congress passes Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 Yesterday, Congress broke new ground in federal law, passing the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. Once it receives the expected signature from the President, the DTSA will create a federal private cause of action for misappropriation … Continue reading

Dutch senate passes Act House for whistleblowers

By Annette van Beers and Maartje Govaert on March 21, 2016 Posted in Europe, The Netherlands, Whistleblowing

On 1 March 2016, the Dutch senate adopted the Act House for whistleblowers (the Act). The Act introduces an independent and impartial governmental institution that investigates wrongdoing and assists employees in disclosure proceedings: the House for Whistleblowers. In addition, the proposal introduces several rules to protect whistleblowers. The Act is expected to come into force … Continue reading

Sexual harassment in Toronto’s restaurants

By Gabriel Granatstein on June 22, 2015 Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment, Whistleblowing

Recently, allegations of sexual harassment in the kitchen of a trendy Toronto restaurant have ignited a dialogue about workplace harassment. While this doesn’t excuse it, industry veterans aren’t surprised by the complaint, saying that many of Canada’s restaurants have a workplace culture that is overwhelming male, close-knit, and full of sexualized banter. The employee at … Continue reading

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 – new employment legislation in the UK

By Amanda Sanders (UK) on April 9, 2015 Posted in Discrimination and harassment, UK, Whistleblowing

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (the SBEEA) received Royal Assent in the UK on 26 March 2015, although most of the employment provisions contained in Part 11 require a commencement order to bring them into force. It is therefore not certain when many of the provisions listed below will have effect. The exception … Continue reading

Does an employee working in Australia for a British company have the protection of UK employment rights?

By Claire Darbourne (UK) and guestauthor on January 28, 2015 Posted in Europe, UK, Whistleblowing

This post was contributed by Jonathan Iyer, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (London) Employees in Great Britain have rights under the Employment Rights Act 1996 not to be unfairly dismissed and not to suffer any detriment for whistleblowing. Can an employee based in Australia working for a British company under a remote working arrangement still seek … Continue reading

Whistleblowing – what protection do employees have in Hong Kong?

By Wynne Mok and Rebecca Hui on August 30, 2014 Posted in Asia Pacific, Discrimination and harassment, General, Hong Kong, Whistleblowing

Notwithstanding the growing global trend in the adoption of express whistleblowing laws (e.g. the US, the UK and Japan), the Hong Kong government has not yet shown any sign of following suit. So, what protection do employees have if they “blow their whistles” on wrongdoers in their workplace? Whistleblowing protection under statue/common law There is … Continue reading

Whistleblowing – an update

By Claire Darbourne (UK) on June 25, 2014 Posted in Europe, UK, Whistleblowing

Please view this month’s video from Paul Griffin, Head of Employment in London, which provides an update on the law on whistleblowing in the UK.… Continue reading