Whistleblowing: the latest updates regarding the compliance of private entities

During this phase of companies adjusting to the new rules about Whistleblowing (legislative decree 24/2023), there's a deadline set for December 17, 2023, for companies with 50 to 249 employees or those that have implemented a Management and Control Organization Model. Our Compliance 231 Observatory highlights some recent changes, emphasizing that the new rules for managing reports require Recipients to set up a specific reporting channel, follow proper procedures, appoint a report recipient, and conduct information and training activities.

One of the recent updates is that ANAC (National Anti-Corruption Authority) released an anonymous questionnaire on December 4, 2023, on their website. This questionnaire is aimed at both public and private entities to monitor the initial applications of the new rules.

The goal is to assess "the challenges public and private entities are facing in implementing Whistleblowing rules through internal channels."

On the Anti-Corruption National Authority website, it's stated that "this is an anonymous survey with mandatory questions focusing on significant topics, aiming to identify the main issues faced or to be faced by these subjects. The questionnaire can be filled online from Monday, December 4, to Friday, December 22. Contributions and responses will be invaluable for the Authority, especially to provide further general guidelines, also concerning internal reporting channels."

It's also worth noting that regarding trade union representations, the Decree requires companies adjusting to the new rules to inform "representatives or trade union organizations as per article 51 of legislative decree no. 81 of 2015." This includes company union representations or a unified union representation, or, in the case of companies lacking these representations, the most representative national trade unions.

As for the content of the information communicated to trade union representatives, it primarily involves describing the adopted channel, the reporting methods, handling of reports, and how information about the procedure will be shared with workers and third parties. This information should be provided before the approval of the organizational act, specifying a deadline for trade union representations to submit any observations and showing readiness for a potential direct discussion.