On February 16, the Congress of Deputies approved the reform of the law regulating the protection of people who report regulatory infractions and the fight against corruption, giving rise to Law 2/2023, of February 20, regulating the protection of people who report regulatory infractions and the fight against corruption.

Whistleblowing in Spanish means person who blows a whistle, this dates back to an ancient practice of British police officers who alerted citizens and other police officers of the possible commission of a crime.

This regulation, among other things, obliges private and public sector organizations to have a secure and anonymous reporting channel under the European “Whistleblowe” directive..  O One of its objectives is to protect people aware of situations of corruption, fraud and violation of the legislation of the European Union and the internal legal system.

Key aspects to take into account for the correct implementation of a complaints channel:

What is it?

A tool for the early detection of conduct contrary to law in the workplace or professional environment.

Purpose of this channel

Report acts of corruption, fraud and violations of the law established by the European Union. It must be available to both employees and third parties, complaints will be anonymous, and the management of the channel by the company must be secure and confidential, the companies themselves will decide.ó We can receive complaints, but always adhering to the legal framework provided for by both the aforementioned Law and the EU framework.

When is it mandatory to have a complaints channel?

Legal entities when they have 50 or more workers and all public sector entities. The latter, depending on their number of employees and size, may share media and resources.

In addition to companies with more than 50 workers, the following groups are obliged to implement a complaints channel regardless of the number of employees they have:

• Political parties.
• Unions.
• Foundations that receive public funds for their financing.
• Universities.
• Non-profit organizations.
• Public entities of municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants.
• Business organizations that manage public funds.

What deadlines are there for its implementation?

The Law determines two deadlines depending on the size of the companies and number of workers.

For companies with 250 workers or more, it has 3 months since it is published in the BOE to adapt this regulation to your company, with a vacatio legis of 20 days.

Companies with 50 to 249 workers will have up to December 1, 2023 To implement the complaints channel, this deadline also applies to municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants.

Organize this channel

This channel is not a mailbox for complaints and suggestions that can be used indiscriminately, so it will be important to set specific rules that regulate its use, indicating which á It is the regulatory framework that protects it, which é n can make use of it, time and manner of filing complaints, who é n will be the competent body for its reception and processing and the consequences of inappropriate use of this channel.

What are the sanctions provided if the Law is not complied with?

In the case of natural persons, the sanctions can range between 1,001 to 300,000 euros, in the case of legal entities the fines can be between 10,001 to 1,000,000 euros.

A sanction is also foreseen for people who take advantage of this channel to file false complaints, as well as for companies or channels that discover the complaints., which, as we have said previously, must be completely anonymous.