Persons working in public and private organisations are key in detecting fraudulent behaviour in the context of their work environment. For safeguarding your business and allowing a speak-up culture within your organisation, a proper protection of the ‘whistleblower’ is crucial.
Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law (the Directive) sets out the minimum standards for an enhanced protection of whistleblowers, in particular through protection against retaliation and claims for damages. The Directive has been implemented by the Law of 28 November 2022 transposing the EU Whistleblower Directive for the private sector. The Law has been published in the Official Gazette of 15 December 2022.
The law enters into force on 15 February 2023. Regarding the implementation of internal reporting channels, there is an exception for legal entities in the private sector with 50 to 249 employees: those specific rules will only apply to them from 17 December 2023. But the other rules of the law (e.g. protection for whistleblowers) do already apply as from 15 February 2023.
Our team can assist you in implementing the obligations that follow from the Law, including the duty to establish channels and procedures for internal reporting, ensuring a diligent follow-up, maintaining confidentiality, giving feedback to the whistle-blower and addressing the reported breaches.
Our offering allows you to check the boxes to properly implement the Law and covers the full scope of the instruments and advice you require:
| Flow charts | Assistance in designing the (internal and external) procedures to deal with notifications and the protection of whistleblowers |
| Policies | Review and/or drafting of the required policies, in particular the whistleblowing policy, the ethics/compliance policy and the privacy policy |
| Implementation | Assistance and advice on the proper implementation of the relevant policies |
| Whistleblowing channel | Setting up an internal reporting channel. Lydian offers – via an European experienced software provider – a ready-to-use web portal, that meets all requirements of the Directive and Belgian law |
| Internal Investigations | Lydian assists with and advises on internal investigations, including advice on strategic, employment, privacy and white collar crime issues that frequently arise in the context of internal investigations |
| Lydian Hotline | Lydian has a 24/7/365 hotline available for immediate assistance regarding issues that arise in the context of whistleblower reports and/or internal investigations |
Whistleblowing in the private sector (15 December 2022)
Whistleblowing in Belgium (19 September 2022)
Whistleblower Directive: current state of affairs (16 December 2021)
Checklist preparation and implementation of procedure for whistleblowers (10 June 2021)
Better protection for whistleblowers on its way (10 December 2019)
Belgian DPA issues Advice on Whistleblowing (30 December 2021)
Our dedicated Lydian team is ready to assist you with any questions you might have regarding whistleblowing.
Contact us with all your questions on whistleblower@lydian.be
Information Communication Technology
Information Governance & Data Protection
Telecommunications, Media & Technology
Commercial law
Dispute Resolution
Intellectual Property (IP)
bastiaan.bruyndonckx@lydian.be
Employment
Health
Fraud and internal investigation
jan.hofkens@lydian.be
Commercial law
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Fraud and internal investigation
yves.lenders@lydian.be
Insurance and Reinsurance
Commercial law
Dispute Resolution
Regulated Markets & Market Regulators
Health
sandra.lodewijckx@lydian.be
