Whistleblowers under protection of law in the Czech Republic

The Chamber of Deputies is currently discussing a bill and an accompanying amending law on the protection of whistleblowers. The essence of the new regulation is to prevent disability, disadvantage or pressure on people who have legitimate concerns about illegal behaviour at the workplace. The government submitted the proposals to the Chamber of Deputies on 25 January 2021, after approving the transposition of the Whistleblower Directive proposed by the Ministry of Justice. The deadline for transposition of this directive expires in December 2021.

The new legislation should ensure the protection of individuals in both the private and public sectors if they decide to report an infringement that took place during their employment and that is fundamentally contrary to the public interest. Infringements could include a criminal offense, misdemeanour or breach of budgetary discipline in the minimum range of CZK2 million (approx. EUR80,000).

Whistleblowers – who according to the bill include both private-sector employees and civil servants and the self-employed, soldiers, trainees or even volunteers – are to be protected by the law against some of the consequences for reporting acts contrary to the public interest. These measures to protect whistleblowers include the prohibition of retaliation against the whistleblower and other people who have any relationship with the whistleblower. Termination of employment by the employer on notification, dismissal from a managerial position or transfer to a lower position or refusal of promotion, extraordinary change of a job description, change of workplace or reduction of salary, as well as change of working or service hours are also forbidden. It is forbidden to deny the whistleblower training, to evaluate them negatively or to incorporate this fact into a work reference for third parties, or to apply any disciplinary measures. It is also strictly forbidden not to extend the employment contract or prematurely terminate the fixed-term employment contract. Notification under this legislation shall also not be considered a breach of the contractual obligation of confidentiality. These bans last for one year after the end of the infringement proceedings. The protection of whistleblowers is in place from the initiation of proceedings by prosecuting and adjudicating bodies or the beginning of a hearing of an administrative delict or proceedings for the imposition of a levy for a breach of budgetary discipline. If they are violated, and retaliatory measures are applied against the whistleblower, there is a risk of a fine of up to CZK1 million (approx. EUR40,000).

Public employers are required by law to designate a person to receive notifications of information indicating that an infringement has occurred or may occur in connection with the employer’s activities. The state, its organizational units, security forces, state funds, public universities or health insurance companies are obliged to appoint such a person. The obligation also applies to territorial self-governing units, state contribution funds, Czech Radio and Czech Television. In such cases, the employee first reports the suspected infringement internally, and the authorized person must take all steps to protect the identity of the whistleblower. According to the bill, private-sector employers can decide whether to set up such a system, but at the same time, the Whistleblower Directive imposes this obligation on all employers with more than 50 employees and some other specific entities. Further changes and amendments are expected in this area.

Once the internal system is established, whether it is legally obliged or voluntary, a whistleblower is obliged to use it as a matter of priority. Theoretically, an exception could be considered when it is clear that the internal notification would be pointless. However, the whistleblower would have to prove this. The whistleblower may apply to the law enforcement authority only if no further action is taken based on this internal notification. Such authority can be the police of the Czech Republic or, for example, the public prosecutor. If a whistleblower does not use the internal notice, even though there was such a possibility, they are not covered by protection under this bill.

The proposal also covers dishonest whistleblowers who try to abuse the protection provided by the law. If the whistleblower deliberately submits a false notification, they face a fine of up to CZK50,000 (approx. EUR2,000). This provision could cause difficulties, especially in the case of notification of an unlawful act which has not been completed and its consequence is “only” an imminent threat.

The legislation is intended to help in the fight against corruption, but undoubtedly also in the fight against further unlawful behaviour. Until the adoption of the new regulation, the protection of whistleblowers remains only partial, scattered in several laws. The origins in regulation at European level are intended to help unify the basic standard of whistleblower protection across the EU. Despite the fact that it is currently unclear to what extent the proposal will be modified by amendments in both chambers of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and when it will take effect, the Czech Republic is currently among the first EU countries to begin the preparations for the transposition.