CEE Legal Matters
In-depth coverage of the news and newsmakers that shape Europe's emerging markets
“Plan twice to implement once” is Teqball Group Legal Director Marianna Erdei’s approach to implementing new whistleblowing regulations in a manner that is not compliant only with Hungarian law but takes into account the local needs of other jurisdictions.
With the Whistleblowing Directive implemented into local legislation, whistleblowing has become an essential topic in companies. As national interpretations of the directive on whistleblowing have made it mandatory for organizations to introduce reporting channels and protective measures, businesses must navigate a more stringent and complex legal landscape.
An act of “whistleblowing” is usually defined in different vocabulary within the frameworks of management sciences and law perspective. A whistleblowing act happens when a person within or outside an organization, holding sensitive information regarding illegal, unethical, or abusive activities, or any action creating a risk to harm the organization, decides to speak out, to internal or external authorities. Whistleblowers are essentially the messengers who convey the information they have somehow acquired.
Whistleblowing transcends being a mere procedural checkbox – it is a lifeline for organizational integrity and accountability. It serves as a crucial mechanism for employees, business partners, and third parties to report unethical practices, illegal activities, or violations of company policies within their organizations.
The business transfer inevitably impacts on employment relationships, a context in which the identity of the economic entity has been the subject of exhaustive analysis in recent case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The Czech Parliament and government have been unusually active in the field of labour law recently so there is a lot of legal news.
Under which circumstances are controllers and processors not required to maintain records of personal data processing activities? The Personal Data Protection Law, modeled on the GDPR, sets out exceptions to the obligation for organizations with fewer than 250 employees to keep processing records. While this acknowledges the characteristics of small and medium-sized enterprises, ensuring they are not unnecessarily burdened with additional costs, the number of employees is not the sole criterion for exemption from the record-keeping obligation.
