On the 30th november 2017 the new Whistleblowing law has been approved, with the purpose of protecting employees who report illegal activities on their workplace.
The landmark of that law is the identity protection of the employees and the guarantee to save them from possible revenge or payback on their workplace.
WHISTLEBLOWING LAW
- The public employee should turn to National Anticorruption Autority (ANAC) to report the fulfillment of illegal activities that he find out in his workplace. In private domain the employee should report the same behavior when specific and consistent clues appear
- Anonymity it’s guaranteed by specific measures that provide identity secrecy during the penal trial and in front of Corte dei Conti
- Those kind of measures to protect the identity of employee will fall in case of a penal responsibility of the employee concerning calumny or defamation or in case of gross negligence and fraud
- Penalty from € 5.000 to € 30.000 is fixed against the Public Authority, with the instant reinstatement in case of the payback were a layof
- If a Public Authority ignore on purpose a report from an employee the penalty will go up to € 50.000
THE WARNING
The public employee should turn to National Anticorruption Autority (ANAC) to report the fulfillment of illegal activities or wrongdoing that he find out in his workplace. In private domain the employee should report the same behavior when specific and consistent clues appear. If the report has acts or facts covered by office secret or loyalty and confidentiality information, the employee will be relieved because the aim of the law, integrity of administrations, acquit him. The report must contains actually useful elements in order that appointed subjects should unroll all the necessary checks to verify the validity of the report.
ANONIMITY AND PROTECTION
Anonymity it’s guaranteed by specific measures that provide identity secrecy during the penal trial and in front of Corte dei Conti, where identity should be reveal only when preliminary activities has finished. In private domain, identity secrecy is protected by specific channel that employee can use to report illegal activities.
Public employee will be keep in safe from all the kind of paybacks that should follow his report (from deskilling to dismissal), by the possibility to apply to ANAC or labor unions. Even in private domain, precautionary measures are introduced to prevent paybacks or discriminatory acts to employee. Him and the labor unions should denounce to Ispettorato del Lavoro all the kind of illegal paybacks.
RESPONSIBILITY
Those kind of measures to protect the identity of employee will fall in case of a penal responsibility of the employee concerning calumny or defamation or in case of gross negligence and fraud intention concerning civil responsibility. In private domain, organization models will provide possible sanctions for who report fake information with fraud or gross negligence.
PENALTY REGIME
In the event of the employee who report illegal activities is victim of revenge or paybacks, a penalty from € 5.000 to € 30.000 is fixed against the Public Authority, with the instant reinstatement in case of the payback where a layoff. If a Public Authority ignore on purpose a report from an employee the penalty will go up to € 50.000. In addition to layoff every other kind of personal paybacks as deskilling are invalid. Those rules are valid both in public and private domain and it always will be up to the employer the burden of proof. Otherwise there’s no prevision of any kind of reward for the employee, even in the event of his report will be followed by correct feedbacks.
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