The Portuguese Whistleblower Protection Law (Law no. 93/2021)
The Portuguese Whistleblower Protection Law (Law no. 93/2021) was published in the country on 20 December 2021. Like all other members of the European union, Portugal was required to transpose the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive into national law. From being one of the countries providing the weakest legal protections for whistleblowers in Europe, Portugal has become one of the first countries to transpose the EU Directive.
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The Portuguese Whistleblower Protection Law (Law no. 93/2021)
The Portuguese Whistleblower Protection Law (Law no. 93/2021) was published in the country on 20 December 2021. Like all other members of the European union, Portugal was required to transpose the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive into national law. From being one of the countries providing the weakest legal protections for whistleblowers in Europe, Portugal has become one of the first countries to transpose the EU Directive.
What are the details of the Portuguese Whistleblower Protection Law (Law no. 93/2021)?
Overall, the Portuguese Whistleblower Protection Law (Law no. 93/2021) adopts the minimum requirements of the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive in that:
- A secure channel for receiving whistleblower reports must be put in place.
- Acknowledgment of the receipt of the report must be provided to the whistleblower within seven days.
- An impartial and independent person or department must be appointed to follow up on the reports, without entering into a conflict of interests.
- Records must be kept of every report received, in compliance with confidentiality requirements.
- There must be diligent follow-up of the report by the designated person or department.
- The measures to be applied or adopted must be communicated within a maximum of 3 months. Feedback must be provided to the whistleblower within the three months.
- All processing of personal data must be done in accordance with the GDPR.
Specifically, in Portugal, Law no. 93/2021 will enter into force in June 2022, and will be applicable to all entities with 50 employees or more. Further, protection covers a broader range of parties regarding a wider scope of areas of misconduct. Another local addition to the EU Directive is that at any time, the whistleblower may request the results of the investigation within 15 days of its conclusion.
Considerations for compliance with the Portuguese Whistleblower Protection Law (Law no. 93/2021)
Organisations with operations in Portugal need to be ready to comply with the new Portuguese Whistleblower law by June 2022. Since this is the first time in the Portuguese legal framework that entities are obliged to establish a whistleblowing system, all organisations subject to law no. 93/2021 will be faced with resolving multiple challenges in a short space of time.
For instance, they should consider what processes they need to be set up to ensure that no forms of reprisal take place, which otherwise could lead to serious administrative sanctions. Further, how should they adjust or reshape organisational models of work to comply with the specific requirements? Additionally, how do they protect internal sensitive data (personal data and trade secrets) in compliance with Law 93/2021?