1.  Is there a law on whistleblowing in your country?
  2. Does local law require private entities to establish a whistleblowing system? (If so, which private entities?)
  3. What legal risks does an entity face for not establishing a reporting channel?
  4. Are there any mandatory requirements for establishing a reporting channel under local labour law?
  5. Does local law require employee involvement when establishing a whistleblowing system?
  6. Does local law prohibit employees from disclosing irregularities/misconduct externally, e.g. to the public?
  7. Is there legal whistleblower protection aimed at preventing discrimination against or dismissal of a whistleblower (as employee) under local labour law?
  8. Are there any mandatory requirements and/or accompanying measures under local data protection law?
  9.  Does local law prohibit a joint whistleblowing system of various entities in different jurisdictions?

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Ukraine
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1. Is there a law on whistleblowing in your country?

There is no law on whistleblowing in Ukraine. The only provisions that cover whistleblowing relate to anticorruption matters and are included into the Law of Ukraine "On the Prevention of Corruption".

2. Does local law require private entities to establish a whistleblowing system? (If so, which private entities?)

Private entities are not obliged to establish any whistleblowing systems under the law. At the same time, such a system may be established voluntarily in order to accompany and strengthen internal compliance policies.

According to the anticorruption laws, certain private entities are obliged to have an internal channel (i.e. reporting to the management of the entity or special internal department responsible for the anticorruption affairs) for whistleblowing reporting (the “Anticorruption Reporting”), namely:

  • Private entities of public law (i.e. private entities established under the order of the Ukrainian state authorities);
  • State, municipal, and private entities where (i) the stake owned by the state or local community is more than 50%, (ii) the number of employees constitutes more than 50 individuals, and (iii) total revenue for the last reporting annual period is more than UAH 70 million (approximately EUR 1.73 million);
  • Private entities that participate in public procurements under the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement” if the value of the goods/services is equal or higher than UAH 20 million (EUR 0.5 million).

Prosecutor offices, the National Police of Ukraine, the National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine, the State Bureau of Investigations, and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention ensure the functioning of the mentioned internal channels through the Unified Register on Whistleblower Reporting.

Since there is no requirement to establish a whistleblowing system in Ukraine, there are no sanctions provided by law. 

4. Are there any mandatory requirements for establishing a reporting channel under local labour law?

There are no mandatory requirements for establishing an internal whistleblowing system under Ukrainian labour laws.

5. Does local law require employee involvement when establishing a whistleblowing system?

Ukrainian law does not require employee involvement when establishing a whistleblowing system. Such involvement, however, may be required under a collective agreement or internal corporate policies.

6. Does local law prohibit employees from disclosing irregularities/misconduct externally, e.g. to the public?

Generally, Ukrainian law does not prohibit employees from disclosing irregularities/misconduct externally. Such a prohibition, however, may be imposed if irregularities/misconduct are attributed to the confidential information as defined by internal corporate policies or employment agreements, and employees are obliged to keep such information confidential. At the same time, the following types of information cannot be classified:

  • information regarding the state of the environment, quality of food and household items;
  • information regarding accidents, catastrophes, dangerous natural phenomena, and other emergencies that have occurred or may occur and threaten people’s safety;
  • facts regarding violations of human rights and freedoms;
  • information regarding unlawful acts of the state and municipal authorities; and
  • information regarding the activity of state-owned or municipality-owned entities, which should be published according to the law. 

Moreover, under the Law of Ukraine “On the Prevention of Corruption” reporting corruption will not be considered a breach of non-disclosure obligations. Confidential information disclosure (except for state classified information) is possible but is subject to enhanced regulation.

There is no legal protection for whistleblowers under Ukrainian labour laws. However, the general legal protection of employees against dismissal might apply. Dismissal with immediate effect must always be justified and confirmed with relevant evidence. Employers must therefore carefully assess the legal situation. (See our CMS Expert Guide to employment termination law and legislation).

Protection aimed at preventing discrimination against or dismissal of a whistleblower (as an employee) is provided only to whistleblowers reporting acts of corruption along with other special guarantees. In particular, an employer cannot apply any negative remedy in response to the whistleblower’s reporting actions, including firing, penalising, demoting a person or related persons, selectively applying a legal measures or taking any other measures aimed at worsening an employee’s position.

8. Are there any mandatory requirements and/or accompanying measures under local data protection law?

The Law of Ukraine On Personal Data Protection (PDP Law) must be complied with when processing personal data, including through a whistleblowing system. The processing of personal data requires a legal basis as provided in Article 11 of PDP Law. 

As for Anticorruption Reporting, uploading personal data to the Unified Register on Whistleblower Reporting does not require consent on processing personal data. All information in this Register is protected from unauthorised access.

9. Does local law prohibit a joint whistleblowing system of various entities in different jurisdictions?

No, there is no such prohibition. At the same time, all requirements regarding processing information that contain personal data must be observed.