The law transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law was voted in on 2 May 2023 in its first constitutional vote.
What breaches can be reported ?
Luxembourg’s government has decided to extend the material scope of application of the directive to all national law. This means that acts or omissions that go against the provisions of directly applicable national or European law constitute a breach that can be reported for the purposes of the law.
To whom does the law apply?
To whistleblowers working in the private or public sector who have obtained information about breaches within a professional context, such as employees and civil servants, as well as shareholders, anyone whose employment relationship has come to an end or not yet started, subcontractors etc
The law proposes the introduction of safeguards covering these different categories of individuals. This means that all forms of retaliation, including threats and attempts to retaliate, are prohibited (suspension of an employment contract, layoff, dismissal, non-renewal or early termination of a fixed-term employment contract or equivalent measures etc.).
Anybody who takes any form of retaliation, or who embarks on abusive procedures against whistleblowers, will be punished with a fine of between 1,250 and 25,000 euros. • The obligation to introduce internal reporting channels and procedures
Legal entities in the private sector with at least 50 employees must set up internal reporting channels allowing whistleblowers to inform their employer in confidence about significant breaches of national law. The minimum threshold of 50 employees must have been reached for a period of 12 consecutive months. Legal entities in the public sector, which includes ministries and their departments, services and administrations for which they are responsible, public establishments and municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants are also subject to the obligation to implement internal reporting channels. If this obligation is not fulfilled, the competent authorities may impose an administrative fine on the company of between 1,500 euros and 250,000 euros. The maximum fine can be doubled in the event of a repeat offence within 5 years of the last definitive sanction.
Entities with fewer than 50 employees and municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants are not subject to the obligation to establish internal reporting channels and are free to implement such channels and procedures. Failing this, whistleblowers can report their concerns externally. Staff representative bodies have different roles depending on the size of the company:
• For companies with fewer than 150 employees, the staff representative body must be informed and will be able to express its views as well as making proposals for changes. • For companies with at least 150 employees, the principle of joint decisions will apply between the employer and the staff representative body. The establishment of internal reporting channels becomes obligatory for organisations in the private sector with between 50 and 249 employees as of 17 December 2023. The transition period mentioned above does not apply to companies in the private sector with 250 or more employees, who must have taken measures to introduce a procedure for internal reporting in order to comply with the law, as soon as it comes into force. The provisions of this new law should come into force on the fourth day after it is published in the Mémorial of the Journal Officiel of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
