The Act of 28 November 2022 on whistleblowers requires legal entities in the private sector with 50 or more employees to set up an internal whistleblowing channel. For the purposes of calculating the 50-employee threshold, the Act refers to the Act on social elections, without providing any further details.
A legislative proposal was passed on first reading by the Commission for Economy of the House of Representatives on 19 December 2023 with the aim of clarifying the calculation of this threshold. This proposal stipulates that the calculation of the 50-employee threshold must be verified each year on the first of January, and that the reference period is the four quarters of the previous calendar year. Temporary workers (except those replacing permanent workers) must a priori be counted over the whole of the previous year (contrary to being taken into account for only one quarter in the context of social elections).
While the legislative proposal provides certain clarifications, it seems to us to also introduce a new source of confusion because the term 'legal entity' is, in relation to this calculation, replaced by the notion of 'undertaking' (potentially defined as the 'technical business unit'), whereas the other provisions of the law refer to the legal entity.
Reliance Littler's lawyers are following this issue and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.