There are a lot of question marks surrounding the new complaint law, an important corporate deadline has already passed

By: Trademagazin Date: 2023. 07. 26. 11:28

The Act on Complaints, Public Interest Notifications, and Rules for Reporting Abuses (Complaints Act), adopted at the end of May, imposes a number of obligations on businesses. Medium-sized companies (from 250 employees), large companies and companies subject to the anti-money laundering law were given a grace period until July 24 to adapt their processes in accordance with the new regulations. While smaller businesses (with between 50 and 250 employees) can do all this until December 17. Companies have so far raised many questions regarding the practical application of the new law, so the expert from SALDO Zrt. is trying to pour clean water into the glass.

At the end of May, the Parliament adopted the bill on complaints, public interest announcements, and the rules related to the reporting of abuses, which also repeals the Complaints Act adopted in 2013. The new law gives the opportunity to report workplace abuses and irregularities by name or anonymously, and requires many companies to establish a mandatory abuse reporting system. The legislation is aligned with the EU Whistleblowing Directive: its purpose is to transpose the 2019/1937/EU Directive into the Hungarian legal system, and thereby to regulate notifications related to threats affecting the public interest, and to protect the persons making the notification.

“The Complaints Act makes it possible to report virtually any illegal or presumed illegal act or omission, starting from, for example, abuse experienced during public procurement procedures, to failure to maintain professional confidentiality, up to violations of consumer protection or environmental protection rules. Reportable behaviors include not only phenomena that conflict with the law, but also behaviors that are classified as illegal in the employer’s internal regulations – this could be, for example, the acceptance of a business gift or the rejection of a job applicant because of his ethnicity.”

– drew the attention of Dr. Eszter Kreiniker-Barna, corporate lawyer of SALDO Zrt.