Hungary's Brand-new Whistleblowing Regime

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Law Firm: Schoenherr Attorneys at Law
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment, Whistleblowing
• Author: Ms Kinga Hetényi, Alexandra Bogn'r and 'ron Hegyi
• Published date: 25 April 2023

On 11 April 2023, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a whistleblower protection act setting aside the previous one first adopted back in 2013. The new rules aim to finally transpose EU Directive 2019/1937 into the Hungarian legal system and impose substantial obligations on employers.

The amendment will enter into force on the 60th day after its publication, which is expected in the upcoming days. This means that all employers concerned must be prepared to apply its new provisions during the summer.

What should employers do?

One of the key obligations imposed by the new act is that employers with 50 or more employees must set up an internal whistleblowing system. Employers with at least 50 but no more than 249 employees have the option to establish a whistleblowing system jointly.

By the internal whistleblowing system, the employer may decide to handle the incoming report fully internally (e.g. via HR) or include a whistleblower protection attorney.

How to handle the report and personal data?

The whisleblowing system must be designed in such a manner that the personal data of the whistleblower and of any person affected by the whistleblowing may not be disclosed to anyone other than the authorised persons. A key obligation is that a whistleblowing report may only be transferred to a third (non-EU) country if the recipient agrees to fully comply with the rules of the Hungarian whistleblowing act. In other words, if a Hungarian company that is a member of an international group of companies wishes to transfer the whistleblowing report to a third country, the recipient may wish to make a written declaration of its commitment to comply with the Hungarian whistleblowing act and to conclude a contract...