Better protection for whistleblowers in public administration and industry
Edited by Giuseppe Sacco
Act #179 of November 30, 2017, published in the Official Gazette on 14, December 2017, provides for better protection of whistleblowers employed in public administration and in the private sector.
Workers who report violations or misconducts to the National Anticorruption Agency (ANAC) or to the judiciary may not be dismissed, sanctioned, downgraded, transferred or subject to such other organizational measures as are detrimental to their working conditions and adopted because of their reports or complaints of said violations or misconducts.
Employees in public administration who are affected by such retaliatory measures may report to the National Anticorruption Agency or to the judiciary, who shall provide.
The burden of proof that such organizational measures were not decided as reprisal against the whistleblower shall now rest on the administration.
In case of retaliatory dismissal, the whistleblower shall be entitled to reintegration, as well as to compensation for damage. Such protection excludes cases where the worker is found guilty of slander or defamation in the first instance of judgment, or is sentenced under civil responsibility (solely for wilful or gross misconduct.)
The same provisions shall apply to the private sector.
