Deadline approaching: protected disclosures legislation

The internal reporting channel must:

• be secure;

• ensure confidentiality of the identity of the reporting person;

• acknowledge receipt of the disclosure within seven days of receipt;

• involve diligent follow-up by a designated impartial person;

• have reasonable timeframes to provide feedback, not exceeding three months; and

• ensure the provision of clear and easily accessible information to workers.

What should you do?

As an employer, you must establish and maintain a confidential internal reporting channel for workers who wish to make written and/or oral protected disclosures. You must also designate a suitable and impartial internal or external competent person to receive the protected disclosures and diligently follow up thereon, and provide workers with information on the confidential reporting process.

Requirements for groups

Employers with an existing group-wide reporting channel will also be required to operate local reporting channels at the subsidiary level. Read our recent insight to understand the requirements for group structures.

How can we help?

Helpfully, the legislation permits an external third-party to operate a company’s internal reporting channel. This approach helps organisations adhere to reporting obligations, simplifies the reporting channel(s) into a single software solution, promotes confidence in the reporting process, preserves the independence of the process, and encourages employees to speak up internally rather than externally about potential wrongdoing in the workplace.

Why use PwC?

We can provide you with a cloud-based software solution that:

• is cost-effective, secure and confidential;
• will foster greater confidence in the independence of your reporting channel;
• is accessible from any mobile device;
• will simplify the reporting channel for you and your workers;
• support legal compliance by ensuring reports are acknowledged and dealt with within the statutory timeframes;
• will ensure conflicts of interest are avoided within your organisation; and
• will ensure no loss of control for you. You will remain responsible for any follow-up or actions taken on foot of any report received.

Key actions businesses can take today

Your six-step employer checklist

1. Do you know if, and how, the legislation applies to your company or group of companies?

2. Have you appointed an internal person or project team to implement the reporting channel’s infrastructure?

3. Have you decided on the type of reporting channel you will use? Will it facilitate written and oral reporting? Is it a digitally enabled solution?

4. Have you drafted a policy and procedure for receiving and processing protected disclosures?

5. Does your policy and procedure provide clear guidance on the distinction between interpersonal grievances and protected disclosures?

6. Do you have both group-wide and local (i.e. subsidiary) entity reporting channels?

We are here to help you

We can offer clients an effective and economical whistleblowing solution while ensuring no loss of control regarding the action(s) taken after receiving such disclosures from workers. Our software solution can help your organisation comply with the new legislation before 17 December 2023. For more information or to request a no-obligation demo, contact Eoghan Linehan today.