HR Focus

Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021

Cait Lynch, ISME HR Advisor

The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2021 will amend the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 to give effect to the European Whistleblowing Directive. In short, the Protected Disclosure Act provides protections for certain individuals who make a protected disclosure concerning relevant wrongdoing. The bill proposes to extend these protections in several ways. The bill broadens the definition of ‘worker’ to include shareholders, volunteers, unpaid trainees, a member of the administrative, management, or supervisory body including non-executive members, and people who acquire information on relevant wrongdoing during a pre-contractual process or recruitment process. It will place an obligation on all employers with 50 or more employees, including private sector organisations, to establish and maintain internal channels and procedures for employees to make protected disclosures. However, this will not apply to organisations employing between 50 and 249 employees until 17th December 2023. The bill also broadens the definition of relevant wrongdoing to include breaches relating to the internal market, competition law and state aid, corporate tax law, public procurement, financial services, transport safety, protection and welfare, risks to public health, and consumer protection and privacy and protection of personal data. Protection from retaliation for making a protected disclosure has been extended to board members, volunteers, unpaid trainees, and individuals who acquire information on relevant wrongdoing during recruitment or other pre-contractual processes. Unpaid individuals have access to redress in the Workplace Relations Commission or the Labour Court, subject to maximum compensation of €13,000. All forms of penalisation will potentially be subject to an order for interim relief. This could include withholding training, negative performance appraisals or employment references, and blacklisting. Organisations who receive protected disclosures will be required to acknowledge their receipt within seven days, and to follow up on the report unless the prescribed person decides that the reported wrongdoing is minor, or that the disclosure does not contain any meaningful new information compared to a past report where the relevant procedures were concluded.

The bill is currently in its early stages and will be subject to further negotiations and possible amendments. Employers should use this time to review existing whistleblowing policies to ensure they are fit for purpose given the amendments included in the Bill. Employers with more than 50 employees who do not yet have a whistleblowing policy in place should add this to their existing policies and procedures. You can find out more about the bill here. Visit our HR advice here and ISME members can contact our HR service by emailing hr@isme.ie