The Treasury, Social Security and the Labor Inspection monitor your company and you know it, but now any anonymous whistleblower can also report you through your own reporting channel.
What don’t you know? Well, you’re going wrong. As of December 1, 2023, you must have your own reporting channel so that workers, suppliers or clients can report any labor or tax irregularities you are carrying out. If you don’t have it, you risk significant sanctions.
Why do I have to open a complaints channel?
At the beginning of 2023, Law 2/2023, of February 20, was published to regulate the protection of people who report regulatory infractions and the fight against corruption, which only transposed the European directive known as Whistleblowing (Directive (EU) 2019/1937).
This law requires, as of December 1, 2023, medium-sized companies with more than 49 employees to launch a complaints channel.
What is this about the complaints channel?
The whistleblowing channel is nothing more than that, a tool through which anyone can anonymously report bad practice by your company.
It could be anything, it occurs to me, because you breach a collective agreement, because you handle black money or because you sell products not approved by the European Union. If this is your case, how do you handle it, right?
Which companies are required to have a complaints channel?
The companies required to have the complaints channel, as of December 1, 2023, are those that have more than 49 workers. However, you should know that there was already a deadline, starting June 13, 2023, when it became mandatory for companies with more than 249 employees.
Apart from size, city councils and autonomous communities, as well as their public entities, universities, political parties or foundations, are also required to have the complaints channel.
Your complaints channel may be used by those people with knowledge or who are related to the company, such as workers – their families -, subcontractors, self-employed workers, interns, public employees or shareholders. That is, anyone with certain knowledge of the violations and with evidence to later be able to verify it.
Features of this complaints channel
One of the main characteristics that the channel, which may be the company’s own or subcontracted, must have is to be able to preserve the anonymity of the complainant. For this, many specialized companies are emerging that for a fee allow this service to be outsourced through software.
Regardless of the system used, you must bear in mind that you have the obligation to manage the complaints, giving acknowledgment of receipt, at most, after 7 days from receipt or respond to the complaint within a maximum period of 3 months from the issuance of the acknowledgment. Of receipt.
Likewise, this channel must be independent and appear differentiated from other company information channels, and you must designate a person responsible for said reporting channel, as well as a management procedure for it.
It seems clear that you need a reporting channel, but do not see everything as negative, since for your company it can be an opportunity to promote the ethical values that you transmit to clients and employees, as well as a demonstration of transparency. Well, if that doesn’t convince you, it’s probably a good way to stop committing crimes.
Fines for not having the complaints channel
It is not known if the remedy or the disease will be worse, but if you don’t have it, get it now. What do you have to hide? Nothing. Don’t risk the fine that may come your way.
In this case, the sanctions are grouped into minor, serious and very serious, and they are differentiated between whoever commits the infraction is a natural person, a self-employed person – with so many employees there are hardly any – or legal entities.
If it is a minor infraction, the self-employed person can be fined from 1,001 to 10,000 euros, if it is serious from 10,001 to 30,000 euros and from 30,001 to 300,000 euros for very serious penalties.
Legal entities can be fined up to 100,000 euros in case of minor violations, between 100,001 and 600,000 euros in case of serious violations and between 600,001 and 1,000,000 euros in case of very serious violations.
To take a risk, since it can be considered a very serious infraction, not having the channel or not preserving the anonymity of the complainant.