Ethical communication channel or whistleblowing channel
On February 21, 2023, through its publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE), Law 2/2023, of February 20, came into force, regulating the protection of those who report regulatory infractions and fight against corruption.
The aforementioned law, now in effect, is the result of the transposition of a European Directive and introduces relevant regulatory elements, as it affects all companies with more than 50 employees, which must implement an internal reporting system, the whistleblowing channel, and establishes a 2-year protection period for employees who make legitimate use of this incident reporting mechanism.
Non-compliance with this regulation can lead to penalties of up to one million euros, prohibition from obtaining public administration grants for 4 years, or being unable to bid for public contracts within a period of 3 years.
The main objective of this law is to implement, after consultation with the legal representation of the workers, a system through which to communicate actions or omissions that may constitute a serious or very serious criminal or administrative offense, as well as any other possible non-compliance or contradiction of the organization’s internal rules.
The law is mandatory for:
- Private sector companies with 50 or more employees
- Entities obliged under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act regardless of the number of employees
Can make use of the company’s channel:
- Workers employed by the organization or self-employed individuals who collaborate with it.
- Shareholders
- Members of the management board
- Suppliers and contractors
- Clients
- Competitors
At Winterman, we provide our clients with a whistleblowing channel that allows for the effective compliance with Law 2/23, and we have designed an outsourced management system for the channel and response to incidents that meets the best practices in compliance.
The outsourced management of the channel, as well as an optimal internal investigation protocol, are key factors in mitigating or exempting the company that has been the victim of a crime within the organization from responsibilities.