With the implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23rd of October 2019 on the protection of whistleblowers, accounting offices, regardless of the size of their staff, will be required to implement whistleblowing regulations. They will have 14 days to do so, from the date of entry into force of the Polish implementation law.

This obligation results from the imposition of the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing obligations on accounting firms. 

Both the directive and the bill impose the obligation to implement the whistleblowing regulations only on employers with at least 50 employees. At the same time, however, this employment threshold does not apply to employers performing the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing prevention activities. And such include accounting offices. 

The implementation of the notification system must also be viewed from the perspective of the law, which may be affected by the violation. Importantly, it is not only about the activities of the accounting office, but also about the knowledge of violations among clients. It cannot be ruled out that employees of accounting offices will obtain information on infringements by their clients. 

At the same time, the bill indicates specific rights, the violations of which will be regulated by the regulations and covered by the whistleblowing process. These include, among others, public procurement, product safety and compliance, transport safety or environmental protection, as well as privacy and personal data protection. These include both national and EU legislation. Accounting firms will be able to extend notifications to other irregularities as well, at their discretion.

One of the employer's primary obligations is to create whistleblowing regulations. The regulations set out the internal way in which violations of the law are reported and followed up. However, this is not the employer's only action in adapting to the changes in the law. The employer should also:

• decide whether it will also accept anonymous reports. 
• identify the internal entity of the employer authorised to accept reports, 
• select an organisationally independent entity authorised to follow up on the report, which may also be the entity receiving the reports. 
• establish channels for the transmission of such information. 

Time is running out.

Source: Gazeta Prawna, 8 November 2021

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