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German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

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Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#2
"However, the original responsibility for following up and remedying the identified violation remains with the respective company."

I don't see how this works if it is usually companies that are corrupt to the top that have stuff that the public should know.

Just look at Boeing, there were countless internal issues raised about the corner cutting and it was just ignored over and over.

Won't this also allow a company to internally fix the issues and then sweep it under the rug?

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#3

"However, the original responsibility for following up and remedying the identified violation remains with the respective company." I don't see how this works if it is usually companies that are corrupt to the top that have stuff that the public should know. Just look at Boeing, there were countless internal issues raised about the corner cutting and it was just ignored over and over. Won't this also allow a company…

I don't think that's very clear in the article. The law allows companies to provide incentives for internal reports but the employee/reporter is the one who can chose to do an internal and an external report.

> Personen, die beabsichtigen, Informationen über einen Verstoß zu melden, können wählen, ob sie sich an eine interne Meldestelle (§ 12) oder eine externe Meldestelle (§§ 19 bis 24) wenden. Wenn einem intern gemeldeten Verstoß nicht abgeholfen wurde, bleibt es der hinweisgebenden Person unbenommen, sich an eine externe Meldestelle zu wenden.

DeepL translation:

> Persons intending to report information about a violation may choose whether to contact an internal reporting office (Section 12) or an external reporting office (Sections 19 to 24). If an internally reported violation has not been remedied, the whistleblower is free to contact an external reporting office.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#4
post #3

"However, the original responsibility for following up and remedying the identified violation remains with the respective company." I don't see how this works if it is usually companies that are corrupt to the top that have stuff that the public should know. Just look at Boeing, there were countless internal issues raised about the corner cutting and it was just ignored over and over. Won't this also allow a company…

I don't think that's very clear in the article. The law allows companies to provide incentives for internal reports but the employee/reporter is the one who can chose to do an internal and an external report. > Personen, die beabsichtigen, Informationen über einen Verstoß zu melden, können wählen, ob sie sich an eine interne Meldestelle (§ 12) oder eine externe Meldestelle (§§ 19 bis 24) wenden. Wenn einem intern gem…

Thanks, the article made it sound like you have to use internal channels but the line "können wählen, ob sie sich an eine interne Meldestelle (§ 12) oder eine externe Meldestelle (§§ 19 bis 24) wenden." indicates you can do either internal or external report.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#6

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

I only know of this in securities violations and maybe one aspect of the medical field? Can you elaborate most? Most employees and stakeholders are just lucky if they aren't ostracized from their field forever.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#7
post #6

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

I only know of this in securities violations and maybe one aspect of the medical field? Can you elaborate most? Most employees and stakeholders are just lucky if they aren't ostracized from their field forever.

All I can contribute is that there is also a tax evasion/tax fraud bounty with the IRS.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#8

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

This is news to me, are there famous examples?

Otherwise I am not sure, if money is the solution to everything, as it could create incentive to create problems or make them worse, only to eventually receive a bigger part of the fines.

Re: German Bundestag Passes Whistleblower Protection Act

#9
post #8

Welcome as this is, I think the US is way ahead of most countries because it guarantees whistleblowers a share of the resulting fines etc.

This is news to me, are there famous examples? Otherwise I am not sure, if money is the solution to everything, as it could create incentive to create problems or make them worse, only to eventually receive a bigger part of the fines.

I know there is a program in the SEC that gives whistleblowers a cut of the fines https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-151

one example: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-211

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