Bill No. 987 relating to the protection of whistle-blowers in the labour relations context

Bill no. 987 on the protection of whistleblowers in in the labour relations context, received by the National Council on :21 December 2018 and tabled in Public Session on 3 April 2019, is "inspired by the legislation of neighbouring countries, as well as international conventions" (Explanatory Memorandum).

It is fully in line with Recommendation CM/Rec(2014)7 adopted on 30 April 2014 by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 10 ECHR on freedom of expression).

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SUMMARY

• Creation of whistleblower status;
• Private and public sectors;
• Reporting or disclosing, in good faith and in a disinterested manner, in the forms and under the conditions laid down by law, any information of which the employee has become aware in the course of his or her duties, relating to the occurrence of: 1. a crime or offence, 2. a serious threat or harm to the general interest in the health or environmental field;
• Whistle-blowing procedures;
• Criminal provisions.

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Content of Bill no. 987

CHAPTER I – GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 – Persons eligible for the whistle-blower qualification

Article 2 – Information excluded from reporting

Article 3 – Protection against retaliation

CHAPTER II – REPORTING PROCEDURES

Article 5 – Designation of a referent for the purpose of collecting the report

Article 6 – Reporting to the judiciary

Article 7 – Information on the follow-up of the report

Article 8 – Revelation to the public in the absence of information on the follow-up of the report

Article 9 – Procedures to be put in place by the employers (ministerial decree of application)

CHAPTER III – CRIMINAL PROVISIONS

Article 10 – Applicable penalty for making or attempting to obstruct the transmission of a report

Article 11 – Applicable penalty for breach of confidentiality of the procedures established under Article 9

Article 12 – Amendment of Article 307 of the Penal Code (false accusation)

Article 13 – Amendment of Article 398-1 bis of the Penal Code (disclosure of a secret)