After 8 years of having a Whistleblowing Act, the Government of Malta has proposed a new bill to amend the current Act to transpose the requirements and regulations as set out in the Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23rd October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union Law (also known as the "Whistleblower Protection Directive").

The Directive, which was entered into force on 16th December 2019 with an implementation deadline of 17th December 2021, sets out the requirements for EU member state regulations in relation to the protection of whistleblowers and disclosures.

The current Whistleblowers Act, Protection of the Whistleblower Act (CAP. 527) was last updated in 2013 and with the amended bill, titled Protection of the Whistleblower (Amendment) Act, 2021, it is expected that the regulations as set out in the Whistleblower Protection Directive will be incorporated.

Some of the major changes include:

  • The definition of employee and worker has been expanded to include shareholders, and persons belonging to the administrative, management, or supervisory body of an undertaking, including non-executive members; paid or unpaid trainees and previous employees;
  • The addition of a “facilitator” which will be a person who assists a reporting person (whistleblower) in the reporting process in a work-related context;
  • The definition of an “improper practice” has been expanded to include more specific scenarios which include where a person has failed or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligations such as AML/CFT, procurement, health and safety, consumer protection, and personal data protection.
  • The actions or series of actions that lead to occupational detriment has also been expanded to include more scenarios where employees/workers can request protection of, for example, refusal of training, cancelation of a licence or permit, psychiatric or medical referrals, and other conditions which put the employee at a disadvantage; 
  • Increasing the scope under which entities would be obliged to be compliant. Currently, there are very narrow criteria under which private sector organisations are obliged to have whistleblowing reporting procedures in place, such as organisations that have more than 250 employees or have a total balance sheet or turnover value that run in the tens of millions. However, the new proposed bill indicates that any private sector organisation with more than 50 workers or employees should implement internal disclosure reporting procedures within the organisation. It further states that, even if an organisation has less than 50 workers and an appropriate risk assessment has been conducted that assesses the level of risk, they should introduce such measures into the organisation.
  • Specific reporting and record keeping standards have been included to protect the confidentiality of the reporting person and to ensure that the processing of personal data has been given particular importance in the new Act so as to ensure that the personal data which are manifestly not relevant for the handling of a specific report shall not be collected or, if accidentally collected, shall be deleted without undue delay.
  • A section relating to public disclosures has also been added which means that any reporting person has the mandate under the Whistleblower Act to go directly to the public if there is any risk of retaliation from external disclosure or if there is imminent danger to the public.

Even though this proposed Act is still to be approved by Parliament, the intended changes are in line with the Whistleblower Protection Directive. By the implementation of this Act, Malta will be taking a further proactive step towards curbing fraud and corruption in the country, as well as creating a safe and comfortable environment for employees to address and disclose improper practices.

For more insights, support, and additional information on the application of the new Whistleblower Act and how we can assist and support your organisation in coming in line with this legislation, providing support and training to the internal Whistleblower Reporting Officer and/or employees, you may reach out to us by contacting [email protected] or [email protected].