A group-wide complaint reporting system is not sufficient

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 08. 14. 08:00

Many global and large national companies already have a centralized group-level whistleblowing system and trust that this global solution will also be suitable for member companies operating in individual countries. At the same time, the European Commission rejected the idea of a central reporting system already in 2021 in its statements in response to the joint letters written by some member state employers’ organizations, chambers of industry and others on this matter. In the following, the experts of the international business and tax consulting company Grant Thornton will help those involved with useful ideas.

According to the directive, all companies with more than 50 employees must implement an internal reporting system, regardless of whether the company is part of an international group of companies or not. Although the directive does not prohibit group-level central reporting systems, they can only exist in parallel with reporting systems operating at the level of individual companies.

In 2021, the Commission justified its opinion by saying that the system is more effective if the problem is dealt with at the level of the reporting company and with different legal regulations adopted at the national level. Therefore, if your organization has more than 50 employees, you should start preparing to implement your own whistleblowing system, even if you already have a global whistleblowing system within your group.