Whistleblower protection and reporting channels in North Macedonia

There is a law on whistleblowing. The Macedonian Law on Whistleblower Protection ("MLWP") was adopted in November 2015

Companies with ten or more employees are obliged to create a whistleblowing "rulebook" in which the rights and protections of the whistleblowers would be clearly stipulated. In addition, these companies are required to appoint a liaison officer to whom the whistleblowers can reach out to report of wrongdoing. 

If the private entity does not publicly publish the above internal rulebook, would be fined as follows:

• Fine in the amount of EUR 250 to 500 to be imposed on a micro company with 10 employees;
• Fine in the amount of EUR 500 to 1,000 to be imposed on a small company with 10 employees;
• Fine in the amount of EUR 750 to 1,500 to be imposed on a middle-sized company with 10 to 50 employees;
• Fine in the amount of EUR 1,000 to 2,000 to be imposed on a large company with more than 50 employees.

Additionally, besides the above fines, the responsible person in the legal entity would be fined in the amount of EUR 250 to 500.

Companies with ten or more employees are obliged to create a whistleblowing “rulebook” in which the rights and protections of the whistle-blowers would be clearly stipulated. In addition, these companies are required to appoint a liaison officer to whom the Whistle-blowers can reach out to report wrongdoing. Furthermore, in accordance with the  Macedonian Law on Whistleblower Protection ("MLWP") all the officers are obliged to act immediately when they receive a report. First, they must initiate steps to protect the Whistle-blower's identity. (If the officer fails to do this and a Whistle-blower's anonymity is compromised, the individual by law can seek protection from the courts and damages from the company for any hardships incurred as a result of the company's failure to protect his/her identity.) Regarding this, the officer must report back to the whistleblower about the company's response to the allegations of misconduct no later than 15 days after the initial report was received.

Yes, see answer to question 4.

The Macedonian Law on Whistleblower Protection ("MLWP") does not prohibit the employees from disclosing irregularities/misconduct externally. According to the MLWP, there are three types of protection stipulated by the Law:

• Protected public whistleblowing;
• Protected internal whistleblowing;
• Protected external whistleblowing.

The Macedonian Law on Whistleblower Protection ("MLWP") provides specific prevention against discrimination for dismissal of a whistleblower. The whistleblower and people close to him/her are protected against any kind of violation of their rights, in particular the determination of liability, sanction, termination of employment, suspension, reassignment to a less favourable job, discrimination, or subjection to a harmful activity or an activity that may cause harm due to carrying out protected internal and external whistleblowing or protected public whistleblowing.

There is an obligation for the officer to protect all the whistleblower’s personal data both in accordance with the Macedonian Law on Whistleblower Protection ("MLWP") as well as the Law on personal data protection. The legal entity must be compliant with the Law on personal data protection. Moreover, processing must always be carried out in the least invasive means possible to minimise the impact on the data subject. The principle of data minimisation must be observed.

No. 

However, in practice, the local companies must be compliant with the existing Macedonian Law on Whistleblower Protection ("MLWP") and the obligations arising from it, described in the items above.