Whistleblower schemes

We advise on the establishment and administration of whistleblowing schemes and provide whistleblowing hotline services for a multitude of national and international clients.

Guidelines for whistleblowing schemes

According to the Danish Act on Protection of Whistleblowers, organisations with 50 or more employees must establish an internal whistleblowing scheme.

A whistleblowing scheme helps to strengthen transparency and credibility in the organisation, thereby protecting the integrity and reputation of the company. It does so by enabling employees and stakeholders to report suspected offences and irregularities internally. Establishing an internal whistleblowing scheme also reduces the likelihood of employees reporting suspected offences and irregularities to external whistleblowing schemes, including that of the Danish Data Protection Agency. If the scheme allows also external parties to report to the company, the company will have the opportunity to address irregularities before they become known to the authorities.

The successful whistleblower scheme

The whistleblowing scheme should be integrated into existing compliance programmes, codes of conduct, anti-corruption programmes and other measures originating from overall CSR initiatives. Whatever the circumstances, there will be a multitude of legal concerns to be addressed before you decide on the best suitable model.

The key to the success of a whistleblowing scheme is that it is designed in a way that suits the individual company, and we have extensive experience in tailoring schemes to different organisations.

What does a whistleblowing scheme involve?

A whistleblowing scheme typically involves processing of confidential and sensitive personal data, for example data about criminal offences. In areas that are not regulated by legislation, the establishment of a whistleblowing scheme is optional.

The schemes are regulated by the practice and guidelines of the Danish Data Protection Agency; accordingly, only serious violations (or suspected violations) that may impact the company as a whole or significantly impact the life or health of individuals may be reported. This includes, for example, serious financial crime, environmental pollution or serious failure to comply with occupational safety regulations. It also includes serious offences against employees, such as violence or sexual assaults.

Our advice

We have extensive experience in advising both national and international clients on the establishment and administration of whistleblowing schemes. We advise on all aspects of whistleblowing schemes and employ multidisciplinary legal experts assisting in investigating reports. Our team can assist you in investigating reports, including assistance in employment law, criminal law and data protection law considerations. Our team also has extensive experience with counsel investigations and other types of internal investigations, should the need arise.

We have assisted on numerous internal investigations, advising on, for example:

compliance with the processing rules in the General Data Protection Regulation and the Danish Data Protection Act;
the possible impact of the proportionality principles on the scope of the investigations;
handling of data subjects' rights, including the duty of disclosure and the right of access to data;
assessment of the requirement for and possible preparation of an impact assessment in relation to the whistleblowing scheme.

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Our digital whistleblowing solution

We are aware that most organisations want a simple solution where the external supplier handles as much as possible. In this way, you can focus solely on the contents of specific reports. We have therefore customised our whistleblowing solution to offer you the following:

a secure technical solution that is subject to an annual ISAE 3000 audit and ISO 27001 certification;
customisation of the whistleblowing portal according to your needs (logo, image, text);
an independent whistleblowing scheme that allows for anonymous reporting;
screening of reports;
document package with standard whistleblowing policy and internal guidance for your whistleblowing unit regarding the handling and investigation of reports;
introduction to the whistleblowing scheme via Teams.

If your organisation is required to set up a whistleblowing scheme pursuant to, for example, the Danish Money Laundering Act, the Danish Financial Business Act or the Danish Insurance Distribution Act, we also have extensive experience in setting up sector-specific whistleblowing schemes.

We look forward to hearing from you

Please contact us if you and your organisation would like to learn more about our whistleblowing solution. We are always available for an informal discussion and a detailed presentation of the solution.