Our work

    Our main mission is to protect whistleblowers who wish to report an unfair practice they have encountered in the course of their work. This could be corruption, fraud or other criminal offences or misdemeanors. In addition to support and advice, we can: 

    whistleblower

    Whistleblower Protection

    Prevent a dismissal

    Whistleblowers can apply for protection, called protected whistleblower status from a prosecutor or administrative authority when reporting a violation. In practice, this means that the employer can do no harm to an employee with this status.

    For example, if the employer wants to fire the whistleblower, he or she must ask our Office for permission and prove that it is in no way related to the whistleblower's report. The same is applicable to other negative employment actions. 

    Temporarily suspend a dismissal

    Sometimes it happens that the whistleblower doesn't know that he or she can ask for protection and has been already dismissed for blowing the whistle. Even in that case, we can step in and suspend the dismissal notice for 30 days.This will give the whistleblower time to go to court to have the dismissal reviewed.

    Protect the identity

    In the most serious cases where it is important to protect the identity of whistleblowers, we file criminal charges on their behalf.

    Important Information for the Whistleblower

    We understand that whistleblowers can be under a lot of pressure and stress, often not knowing who to contact or how to proceed. That is why we have created a simple guide. We will help you find out if your complaint can be perceived as a threat to the public interest and whether our Office can help you. If we are unable to help we can direct you to the right organization or body.

    Developing methodologies and guidelines

    The Whistleblower Protection Office was established by Act No. 54/2019 Coll. on Protection of Whistleblowers of Anti-social Activity and on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts.

    Download:
    Amendments to the law FAQ [.pdf, 132 kB]

    We regularly encounter practical questions on the interpretation of the Act, which is why we develop and publish supplementary, explanatory materials.

    Internal whistleblowing system

    Every private employer with more than 50 employees must have an internal reporting system. For the public sector, this applies from five employees onwards. If you don't know how to set up your internal mechanisms to make them functional and effective, read the guides we have developed for you.

     

    Download:

    Manual for public sector [.pdf, 278 kB]

    Manual for private sector [.pdf, 174 kB]

    Educational materials for responsible persons [.zip, 2 MB ]

    Internal reporting system requirements — Quality and Functionality criteria [.pdf, 452 kB]

    Education

    Poskytujeme bezplatné školenia tzv. interným zodpovedným osobám, ktoré majú u zamestnávateľa na starosti prijímanie a preverovanie oznámení o nezákonných činnostiach.

     

    Aktuálne máme otvorené dva termíny, na ktoré sa môžete prihlásiť:

    V prípade voľných kapacít robíme tiež osvetové prednášky pre vedúcich zamestnancov u zamestnávateľa o význame whistleblowingu, resp. ochrane verejného záujmu, možnostiach podávania oznámení a ochrane oznamovateľov.

     

    Ak máte záujem o vzdelávanie vedúcich zamestnancov, môžete nás kontaktovať.

    Professional publications

    Decisions on Fines

    The office follows the principle of confidentiality when dealing with individual cases of anti-social activity. The protection of whistleblowers and their personal data is one of the main priorities, and therefore we will publish only selected legal decisions that do not threaten the effective protection of the whistleblower and where his identification is not at risk as part of informing about the office's activities.