The German Whistleblower Protection Act’s scope of application is broader than that set out in the EU Directive since it includes violations of national criminal laws, laws aimed at protection life, health, or physical integrity of persons or the rights of employees, laws regulating the rights of shareholders of public limited companies and tax laws applicable to companies.

The whistleblower is protected against retaliation and prejudice, such as dismissal. In case of retaliation or prejudice, it is up to the employer to prove that these are not related to the whistleblowing but are based on other justified reasons.

All legal entities employing more than 250 employees in Germany and all financial institutions -regardless of their employee number-, must comply with the German Whistleblower Act as from 2 July 2023.

Small companies with 50 up to 249 employees have a transitional period until 17 December 2023 to establish an internal reporting office.

Reporting channels must ensure confidential reporting but do not need to allow for anonymous reports.

The company which does not comply with the settlement of a reporting channel can be fined up to EUR 20,000. Likewise, impeding reporting or punishing whistleblowers can be fined with up to €500,000.

We previously reported on the same topic in other European countries, such as Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands.  You can find an updated map of the implementation of the EU Whistleblower Directive into member states' national law, here.