A new law has been adopted in the Republic of Bulgaria, which introduces obligations for every employer with more than 50 employees.

The purpose of the law is to provide protection to persons in the public and private sectors who report or publicly disclose information about violations of Bulgarian legislation or acts of the European Union, which became known to them during the implementation of the work process. The law was promulgated on February 2, 2023 and it introduces the requirements of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of whistleblowers for violations of Union law.

The deadlines for the implementation of the legal provisions are as follows:

Employers in the private sector with workers from 50 to 249 employees have an obligation to fulfill the legal requirements – until 17.12. 2023,

All other obliged persons must comply with the law by 05/04/2023.

Obliged persons:

Private sector employers with 50 or more workers or employees.

Employers in the private sector, regardless of the number of workers or employees, if their activity falls within the scope of the European Union acts listed exhaustively in the Law (insurance and financial sector, persons liable under the Law on Anti-Money Laundering Measures and other enterprises from public)

Employers in the public sector, excluding municipalities with a population of less than 10,000 people or fewer than 50 workers or employees.

Legal requirements:

The law explicitly describes the requirements for the employer in connection with the fulfillment of his obligations, namely:

To build an internal whistle-blowing channel that meets the requirements of the Act

Designate one or more employees who are responsible for handling reports (this could be an external company, the data protection officer or an employee specifically designated only for handling reports)

To adopt Internal Whistleblowing Rules and follow-up on them by providing clear and easily accessible information on the terms and conditions for whistleblowing

Create and maintain a registry of whistleblowers. An internal act for its keeping should be adopted for the register

It regularly submits the necessary statistical information to the national body for external whistleblowing according to the procedure established by it.

The prepared documentation and all related acts must be published on the employer’s website, as well as in a prominent place in the offices and workplaces. This is required in order to ensure that any person who wishes to make a whistleblowing under the Act will have the opportunity to familiarize himself with the conditions under which he may do so.

Reporting goes through 2 stages. The first stage is an internal inspection, which is carried out by a specially hired person or employee. The second stage is related to notifying the state authorities and sending the signal according to competence.

The law prohibits any form of retaliation against whistleblowers and other protected persons. Forms of retaliation include, but are not limited to, dismissal, demotion or delay in promotion, change in location or nature of work, reduction in pay, coercion, rejection, threat of retaliation, or physical action , verbally or in any other way, which are aimed at harming the dignity of the person and creating a hostile professional environment, negative evaluation of work, including in a job recommendation, imposition of disciplinary punishment, discrimination, early termination of a contract, damages, including for the person’s reputation, or financial losses, including loss of business and loss of income, termination of a license or permit.

In case of violation of this prohibition, the reporting person has the right to compensation for the material and non-material damages suffered.

All whistleblower employees are subject to special protection, which also includes persons who assist the whistleblower in the whistleblowing process, persons who are related to the whistleblower / colleagues or relatives, legal entities in which the whistleblower owns shareholding and others/.

Anticipated sanctions:

The law provides different sanctions for breaching the obligations of employers, the fines vary between BGN 400 and BGN 20,000. For repeated violations of the obligations to create a channel for internal reporting and to periodically review and update the internal rules adopted in this regard, larger amounts of sanctions are provided, namely from BGN 10,000 to BGN 30,000.

A sanction is also provided for the employees, a fine in the amount of BGN 3,000 to BGN 7,000 for a person who is found to have knowingly reported or disclosed publicly false information.

VP solutions can prepare all necessary documents and acts for you. In addition, our team offers highly qualified personnel who can personally respond to receiving signals from your employees. By choosing us, you guarantee a professional attitude and a reduction in the cost of hiring additional labor. Let’s work together!

Author: V.Zh.

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