2 June 2025

Whistleblower in an accounting office – procedures

Whistleblower protection has been gaining importance in European Union countries, including Poland, for several years. Following the adoption of regulations on reporting law violations by individuals acting in a professional context, several questions arose: Who can be considered a whistleblower, and what types of irregularities can be reported?

Who can be a whistleblower?

According to Article 4, Section 1 of the Whistleblower Protection Act, a whistleblower can be any individual who reports or publicly discloses information about a violation of the law, if they obtained this information in a work-related context. The Act very broadly defines who can be considered a whistleblower.

• Employees – employed under an employment contract,
• Temporary employees and persons performing work under civil law contracts (e.g. a contract of mandate or a contract for specific work),
• Entrepreneurs, procurators, shareholders, and partners,
• Members of bodies of legal persons and organizational units without legal personality,
• Persons performing work under the supervision of contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers,
• Interns, volunteers, trainees,
• Officers of uniformed services and soldiers.

Importantly, whistleblower protection also covers persons who report irregularities before the start of the employment or cooperation relationship, as well as after its termination (Article 4, paragraph 2). This means that even a former employee or job candidate may be protected if they report a violation of the law that they learned about during the recruitment process or their previous employment.

What can be reported?

Article 3 of the Whistleblower Act specifies that reports may concern unlawful actions or omissions or actions aimed at circumventing the law; the content of the act lists these actions directly. The scope of possible reports includes:

• corruption;
• public procurement;
• financial services, financial products, and markets;
• money laundering and terrorism financing;
• product and transport safety;
• environmental protection and nuclear safety;
• food safety and animal health;
• public health and consumer protection;
• protection of privacy and personal data;
• security of IT systems;
• protection of the financial interests of the Republic of Poland, local governments and the EU;
• principles of competition and taxation in the EU;
• violations of constitutional human and civil rights.

The legislator has therefore provided protection not only for classic cases of crimes or administrative irregularities but also for actions violating fundamental civil rights in the relationship between an individual and public authorities.

A whistleblower who decides to send a message should therefore verify with the content of the act whether a given event or action qualifies for reporting.

Whistleblower in an accounting office – protected, but not unconditional

In the context of an accounting office, the limit of employees employed in the company is irrelevant. The limit of “over 50 employees” does not apply here, even an accounting office that is a sole proprietorship should meet the statutory requirement, i.e. allow the whistleblower to make an anonymous report using the systems provided by the employer.

Accounting offices have a special status because they are obliged to apply the procedures specified in the Act of 1 March 2018 on Counteracting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing – the so-called AML procedures.

However, the introduction of regulations protecting whistleblowers does not mean full immunity from prosecution of persons reporting irregularities. An example is Article 755(5) of the Code of Civil Procedure, which imposes on the employer the obligation to continue employing the employee until the conclusion of court proceedings, if the employee appeals against his dismissal.

Practice shows that the protection provided for in the Act on Whistleblowers is not identical to the so-called special protection of the durability of the employment relationship.

More information on the provisions for whistleblowers can be found in our previous article.