{"id":2634,"date":"2022-08-30T10:46:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T08:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/10.0.3.10\/?page_id=2634"},"modified":"2024-10-29T15:17:04","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T14:17:04","slug":"najcastejsie-otazky-zodpovednych-osob","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/10.0.3.7\/en\/o-nas\/dokumenty\/najcastejsie-otazky-zodpovednych-osob\/","title":{"rendered":"Frequently asked questions by the designated persons"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Homepage<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Frequently asked questions by the designated persons<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1. Can a natural person performing work outside the employment relationship also be a responsible person?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

Yes, Act No. 54\/2019 Coll. in \u00a7 10 (1) allows such a possibility.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2. How to proceed in municipal self-government if the Auditor General is not appointed or the position of Auditor General is vacant (with the HC to be in the position of the person in charge). How to proceed if the Auditor General of the municipality is on long-term sick leave or on parental leave?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

The Act on Municipal Establishment first of all obliges municipalities to fill the post of chief inspector. At the same time, we would like to point out that Act No 54\/2019 Coll. imposes an obligation on the employer under Section 10(5) to receive and verify each report within 90 days of its receipt, pursuant to Section 1. The time limit may be extended by a further 30 days, stating the reasons for the extension to the whistleblower (e.g. in the case of sick leave). The Act imposes this obligation on the employer, who is obliged under section 10(1) (a public authority employing at least 5 employees) to designate a responsible person to carry out the employer's tasks in receiving and verifying the report. In the municipality, this role is performed by the chief inspector. If he or she is unable to perform the function, the employer is responsible for receiving and verifying the report.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3. Can an established budgetary or contributory organisation internally process a directive on the terms of Act No. 54\/2019 Coll., if the founder has its own directive?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

Act No.54\/2019 Coll. does not exclude such a procedure, however, the implementation of only its own directive without the simultaneous determination of its own responsible person would complicate the situation in the exercise of rights and obligations of the responsible person of the founder, who would in principle have to proceed differently for each such subordinate organization, which could negatively affect the quality of the performance of tasks, rights and obligations under Act No. At the same time, it is also necessary to consider the practical aspect of such a procedure, since the smaller the organisation, the greater the risk of bias\/conflict of interests of the responsible person when reviewing notifications. However, budget organisations with 50 or more employees may agree with the founder that they prefer their own internal whistleblowing system, even if the founder has its own guidelines for them.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4. Does the responsible person have to start keeping records even if he\/she has not received the report?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t
If no report has been received, there is nothing to keep and the records will remain clean\/unfilled.<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5. How to proceed if the whistleblower has sent the submission anonymously by post, taking into account the wording of Section 10(6) of the Whistleblower Protection Act?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

If the employer does not have the data for the delivery of documents in relation to the whistleblower and is therefore not in a position to fulfil the obligation to acknowledge receipt of the report pursuant to Section 10(6) of the Whistleblower Protection Act, the objective prerequisites for the creation of such an obligation are not fulfilled.<\/p>

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However, in the case of receipt of an anonymous report, the obligation to keep a proper record of the report received, to properly examine the report and to take corrective action if certain unlawful conduct is detected remains.<\/p>

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Thus, an anonymous report received by post without the data of the whistleblower being available must be duly registered and the impossibility of delivery of the acknowledgement must be indicated in the records.<\/p>

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However, if the anonymous submission is received by email, the employer is obliged to acknowledge receipt of the report to the email address in question.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t6. How to proceed in practice if a state organisation does not have a founder (state funds) and the state fund is a public administration entity with more than 50 employees? Who performs the role of the responsible person (e.g. methodologically manages the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic and budget-wise the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic)?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

In this particular case, the sovereign wealth fund should have its own internal system for reviewing notifications, including a responsible person.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t7. How should the responsible person proceed if part of the received notification is a complaint under Act No 9\/2010 Coll.? Do I separate the report from the complaint?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

The report will be registered in the register and examined as a whole by the responsible person. This does not preclude that part of it will also be examined as a complaint. Upon receipt of a report, the person responsible shall enter such a report in the register of reports. Consequently, should the content of the report indicate that only part of the report is a report, only the relevant part of the report shall be examined by the person responsible and the remaining parts of the report shall be dealt with in the appropriate manner (i.e. under the Complaints Act). At the same time, it is important to record this fact in the register of reports - the result of the examination of the report, which should indicate that part of the report has been assessed as a complaint and has therefore been dealt with as a complaint (including the number under which it is registered as a complaint).\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t8. Does the employer have to publish the contact details of the responsible person on the employer's intranet, official notice board or notice board or is it sufficient to publish them on the website?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

Therefore, in view of the extension of the circle of whistleblowers according to the amendment by Act No 189\/2023 Coll., it is necessary to fulfil the obligation to publish the designation of the responsible person and the methods of submitting reports in a concise, comprehensible, clearly formulated and easily accessible form. It is up to the employer to decide how to comply with this obligation, but we recommend choosing a method that is not on an individual basis, such as inserting a clause on this information in a specific cooperation agreement, but rather publicly and with an impact on a wide range of potential addressees, for example by publishing it on the employer's website.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t9. If reports are received with the aim of overwhelming the authority (public authority) with the whistleblower in question (multiple reports at the same time by one whistleblower against multiple senior staff\/statutory officers), what are my competences as the person responsible? Can I produce a collective outcome or handle the notification as a joint outcome of the investigation?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

Yes, this is possible for the responsible person, while maintaining the time limits for verification for the individual reports listed in the common output. In principle, every report has to be checked - i.e. every possible anti-social activity has to be dealt with. However, it is possible to cover them in one final output for reasons of efficiency.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t10. Is it possible to enter into a contractual relationship between the parent company and the subsidiary whereby a department or person in the parent company is designated to act as the responsible person also for the subsidiary\/companies?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

In connection with the amendment to Section 10 of Act No. 54\/2019 Coll. effective as of 1 September 2023, we would like to point out that according to the aforementioned wording, it is possible to delegate some of the employer's tasks to external responsible persons within the scope of receiving and confirming reports.<\/p>

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Employers with fewer than 250 employees who are not public authorities may also delegate the verification of reports to external responsible persons, but the employer retains responsibility for the verification of the reports also by a responsible person within his organisation (internal person).<\/p>

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We also draw your attention to Article 8(6) of DIRECTIVE (EU) 2019\/1937 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report infringements of Union law:<\/p>


\"Legal entities in the private sector with between 50 and 249 employees can share resources in terms of receiving reports and any investigations to be carried out. This is without prejudice to the obligations imposed on such entities by this Directive to maintain confidentiality, to provide feedback and to address reported breaches.\"<\/em><\/p>

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As regards the contractual relationship between the employer and the external responsible person to whom some of the employer's tasks are delegated, it is necessary that the mutual contractual obligation guarantees the functionality of the external responsible person so that the internal reporting system is fully functioning, both in terms of the requirements for the performance of the external person's activities and in terms of the requirements for the functioning of the internal system for the verification of reports within the meaning of the provision of Section 10(1) of the Act on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. 9 of the Whistleblower Protection Act (e.g. confidentiality and secrecy, processing of personal data, avoidance of conflicts of interest, ensuring the professional qualifications of the responsible person, time limits for the verification of the report, etc.). This functionality of the external responsible person includes contractual obligations of the employer itself in the performance of the activities of the external responsible person pursuant to the provisions of Sections 5 to 8 of the Whistleblower Protection Act (e.g. providing full cooperation, taking proposed measures after the investigation, informing the whistleblower, etc.).<\/p>

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In this context, however, it should be noted that the delegation of the above tasks to an external responsible person does not relieve the employer of responsibility for possible breaches of obligations under the Whistleblower Protection Act at all stages - receiving and verifying reports, taking follow-up measures and informing the whistleblower about the results of the verification.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t11. If a parent company appoints a third party to act as a responsible person, must its subsidiaries also accede to the contract under which the appointee was appointed?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

The employer's obligation to issue an internal regulation within the meaning of Section 10(9) of the Whistleblower Protection Act, and all other obligations under other relevant provisions of the Act, is non-transferable. If it were an addendum or annex to the parent company's internal regulation, it would no longer be an employer's internal regulation, but an internal regulation of the parent company, but, in particular, it would not be the case that the employer has fulfilled its statutory obligation to \"issue an internal regulation in which it shall determine the details of...\".<\/p>

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The employer, as a subsidiary, is therefore obliged to issue an internal regulation pursuant to Section 10(9) of the Whistleblower Protection Act and thus in accordance with national legislation, even though the parent company has already established its own global regulation for the purpose of whistleblowing. At the same time, the subsidiary may include the parent company's regulations in the internal regulation as long as they do not conflict with domestic legislation.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t12. Can a mayor, a deputy or a conciliator from the Office of Social Security and Labour Relations also be a whistleblower within the meaning of Act No. 54\/2019 Coll.?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

A mayor (function), a deputy (function) and a contractor (employment relationship) may also be a whistleblower if they have become aware of the anti-social activity in connection with the performance of their work or function. Such information must have been obtained legally, i.e. in the exercise of their powers .\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t13. What are the professional qualifications to perform the function of the responsible person?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

The law itself does not specify the professional qualifications of the responsible person. However, in order to fulfil the purpose of the law, it should have sufficient knowledge to properly perform the tasks of the responsible person and to examine reports as efficiently as possible. It is desirable that the responsible person, when reviewing reports, should be able to identify possible breaches of the law, be able to identify persons with the necessary expertise within the employer to help review the report (while maintaining confidentiality and secrecy) and, if necessary, be able to refer the report to the relevant authorities. He or she should have a minimum of specialist knowledge - knowledge of the legislation in force - and this should be basic. The moral integrity and trustworthiness of the responsible person is also an important quality that he or she should have in the organisation.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t14. The Auditor General is also the responsible person for the school, the contributory and the budgetary organisation. Is a mandate\/notification required for these organisations that the chief inspector is the responsible person for them? Does this apply from 5 employees or from 50 employees?<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

The auditor-general shall also perform the function of responsible person in relation to\u00a0<\/p>

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