Whistleblower protection
Whistleblower protection applies to people reporting certain types of misconduct. A whistleblower is a person who witnesses a breach of EU or national law in, for example, public procurement, financial services, food safety or consumer protection in the context of their work-related activities and reports the breach through a whistleblowing channel. Reporting misconduct is important for preventing danger and serious harm to the public interest.
Whistleblower protection allows whistleblowers to report misconduct safely and without their identity being disclosed. The whistleblower’s identity remains confidential also during the further processing of the report.
Whistleblower protection is based on the Whistleblower Act (in Finnish) and EU Whistleblower Directive .
Whistleblower protection prohibits retaliation against whistleblowers. For example, the employer may not worsen the terms of the whistleblower’s employment or dismiss or lay off the whistleblower due to the report.
There are three general conditions for whistleblower protection to apply:
- The whistleblower has reasonable grounds to believe, at the time of making the report, that the matters reported by them are true.
- The information concerning the breach falls within the scope of the Whistleblower Act (in Finnish). Laki Euroopan unionin ja kansallisen oikeuden… 1171/2022 – Säädökset alkuperäisinä – FINLEX ®
- The whistleblower is reporting misconduct witnessed in the context of their work-related activities.
National Enforcement Authority Finland employees can file reports through the internal whistleblowing channel. The instructions and report form can be found on the intranet under ‘Whistleblower protection’.
Other individuals referred to in the Whistleblower Act can report misconduct related to the operations of National Enforcement Authority Finland witnessed in the context of their work-related activities and falling within the scope of the Whistleblower Act through the Chancellor of Justice’s centralised external whistleblowing channel: Whistleblower protection | Chancellor of Justice