1. Concept
Law no. 93/2021 of 20 December – General Regime for the Protection of Whistleblowers (RGPDI) – ensures the implementation in the internal legal order of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 which, in turn, combined with the provisions of Decree-Law no. 109-E/2021 of 09 December, especially in its article 8, establishes the need to create internal whistleblowing channels.
2. Scope of application
Within the scope of these regimes, it is mandatory for legal persons with 50 or more employees to have an internal whistleblowing channel to prevent and detect risks, report acts and offences committed and follow up on complaints of corruption and related offences.
Therefore,
Pursuant to the provisions of article 2, no. 1 of Law no. 93/2021 of 20 December, acts or omissions committed intentionally or negligently that may constitute a crime or administrative offence may be denounced, namely:
Public procurement.
Corruption and related offences (article 3 of the General Whistleblower Protection Regime – RGPDI).
Financial services, products and markets and the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
Protection of privacy and personal data and network and information systems security.
Product security and compliance
Transport security
Environmental protection
Radiation protection and nuclear safety
Public health
Financial interests of the European Union referred to in Article 325 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
Internal market rules referred to in Article 26(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
3. Complainant
For the purposes of Article 5 of Law no. 93/2021 of 20 December, a whistleblower is considered to be ‘a natural person who reports or publicly discloses an offence, based on information obtained in the course of their professional activity, regardless of the nature of this activity and the sector in which it is carried out’, namely:
Workers and managers and former workers of Work Supply, Lda.
Service providers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers of the organisation or any persons acting under its supervision and direction;
Volunteers or trainees;
Anyone who has obtained information during the recruitment process or in the pre-contractual negotiation phase of an established or unestablished professional relationship with Work Supply Lda;
The whistleblower who proceeds in good faith and has serious grounds for believing that the information is true at the time of the complaint or public disclosure is granted the protection enshrined in Article 6 of Law 93/2021 and, consequently, any act of retaliation by Work Supply Lda. is prohibited, as described in Article 21 of Law 93/2021.
4. How can I lodge a complaint?
Work Supply Lda’s internal whistleblowing channel allows for written or verbal complaints to be made by employees, anonymously or with identification of the complainant, using the platform available on the website (here).
The complaint must contain elements considered relevant and detailed, namely:
- Date or period of occurrence of the offence;
- Identification of the persons and/or entities concerned or involved in the commission of the offence and/or with knowledge of the facts.
- Documentary or other evidence, where appropriate.
- Among other facts relevant to the complaint.
5. Procedure
Following the complaint submitted, the Work Supply channel manager will analyse it and carry out all the appropriate steps to verify the allegations that are the subject of the complaint.
Work Supply Lda. must notify the complainant within 7 days of receipt of the complaint, and must take appropriate procedural steps, which involves verifying the veracity of the facts complained of, and if necessary, requesting further clarification from the complainant, including, where appropriate, informing the competent authority to investigate the offence.
The measures planned or adopted to follow up on the complaint and the reasons for them must be communicated to the complainant within 3 months of receiving the complaint (Article 11(3) of Law 93/2021 of 20 December).
6. Processing of Personal Data
The processing of personal data contained in the respective reports will be handled in accordance with the rules of Regulation (EU) No. 679/2016 of 27 April (GDPR), reflected in the privacy policy of Work Supply Lda. published here.
7. Complainants' rights
Under the terms of articles 21, 22 et seq. of Law no. 93/2021 of 20 December, the whistleblower who submits a complaint through the Whistleblower Channel has the following rights:
- The right to legal protection;
- The right to anonymity and confidentiality of their identity;
- The right to follow up the complaint, add new elements or ask for clarification.
- Right to non-retaliation;
- The right to benefit from witness protection measures in criminal proceedings;
8. Closure of the complaint
Complaints will be closed, without prejudice to the provisions of the criminal procedure code (article 242 et seq.) and administrative offences, and no further action will be taken, when Work Supply Lda., by means of a reasoned decision to be notified to the complainant, finds that:
- The offence complained of is of minor gravity, insignificant or manifestly irrelevant;
- The complaint is repeated and contains no new elements of fact or law that justify a different course of action to that taken in relation to the first complaint;
- The complaint is anonymous and there is no evidence of an offence;
- It does not fall within the acts described as infringements and dealt with under Law no. 93/2021 of 20 December;
- It does not fulfil the minimum requirements for drawing up the complaint and the complainant, after being asked, has not corrected the errors/omissions;
