The Czech Whistleblower Protection Act

Czech Whistleblower Protection Law overview

The Czech Republic updated its whistleblower laws in June 2023 to transpose the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive’s requirements into national law. The amendments define whistleblower protections for anyone reporting violations of EU law or Czech criminal or civil offenses where the maximum penalty is at least 100,000 Czech koruna. 

The new legislation covers all public and private organizations with at least 50 employees, requiring them to establish mechanisms to allow for whistleblower reports and to protect whistleblowers. Employers must also appoint someone to investigate whistleblower claims, and this can be an internal manager or an external third party. 

The law protects whistleblowers and those assisting them from retaliation for submitting a report. It also allows them to report their concerns externally to the Czech Ministry of Justice, or even directly to the press if the whistleblower believes reporting via the other two channels will be ineffective.

What does the Czech whistleblower protection act cover?

The law adopts the minimum standards for whistleblower protection outlined in the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive. These requirements include: 

• A secure and confidential channel for receiving whistleblower reports must be in place. 
• Acknowledgment of the receipt of every whistleblowing report must be provided to the whistleblower within seven days. 
• An impartial person or department must be appointed to follow up on the reports. 
• 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. 
• Feedback on the follow-up or investigation must be given to the whistleblower within three months of receiving the report. 
• All processing of personal data must be done in accordance with GDPR.

All covered business must meet the following basic requirements

The law requires all covered businesses to: 

• Set up a whistleblowing system with comprehensive whistleblower protections
• Adopt a policy on reporting legal violations and other misconduct. Businesses must also train employees on how to use the hotline and on the importance of non-retaliation.

Report intake

Whistleblowers are allowed to submit reports in writing, verbally, or in person. Contrary to most other whistleblower protection laws in the EU, the Czech law does not require companies to address anonymous reports, although they can always do so if they choose. A report must contain the whistleblower’s name for whistleblower protections to apply, and for the company to act upon it.

Case management

Companies are allowed to outsource the management of their hotline to a third-party service provider, although companies that do so are still responsible for responding to whistleblower complaints on the timelines outlined above.

What are the risks of non-compliance?

Companies that fail to implement the required whistleblower program, or that ignore whistleblower reports and allow retaliation to occur, can be subject to fines as high as 1 million Czech koruna (roughly equivalent to €42,000).