Conditions to be met in order for whistleblowers to benefit from protection measures
The law provides for three cumulative conditions to be met in order for whistleblowers to benefit from protection measures, namely:
– the whistleblower must be one of the persons who make reports in accordance with the provisions of the law (employee, former employee, shareholder in a company, volunteer, etc.) and who obtained information regarding violations of the law in a professional context;
– the whistleblower must have had reasonable grounds to believe that the information regarding the reported violations was true at the time of the report;
– the whistleblower must have made an internal report, an external report or a public disclosure.
Whistleblower immunity in the public interest
In order to protect against retaliation, whistleblowers benefit from the following protection measures:
– if a report or public disclosure was made in accordance with the law and they had reasonable grounds to believe that the report or disclosure was necessary to disclose a violation of the law, the whistleblower does not violate the legal provisions or contractual clauses regarding the disclosure of information and is not liable for the public reporting or disclosure of such information,
– if they acquire or access data and information of which they are aware by virtue of their job duties or employment relationships, they are not liable if the access or acquisition is for the purpose of reporting or publicly disclosing a violation of the law, and the public reporting or disclosure was made in accordance with the law,
– in legal proceedings concerning violations such as violation of image rights, violation of copyright, violation of professional secrecy, violation of data protection rules, disclosure of trade secrets or actions in compensation, liability cannot be incurred as a result of public reports or disclosures made under the law,
– if a person reports or publicly discloses information regarding violations of the law under the law and this information includes trade secrets, such public reporting or disclosure is considered legal under the law in force,
– whistleblowers who have made a public report or disclosure under the terms of this law are entitled to full compensation for the damage suffered as a result of the public report or disclosure.
According to the law, any form of retaliation against whistleblowers in the public interest is prohibited, in particular those concerning:
– suspension of the individual employment contract or service relationship;
– dismissal or release from public office;
– modification of the employment contract or service relationship;
– reduction of salary and change of working hours;
– demotion or impediment to promotion in employment or in the public service and professional development, including through negative evaluations of individual professional performance, including civil servants, or through negative recommendations for professional activity;
– application of any other disciplinary sanction;
– coercion, intimidation, harassment;
– discrimination, creating another disadvantage or subjecting to unfair treatment;
– refusal to convert a fixed-term employment contract into an open-ended employment contract, where the worker had legitimate expectations that he or she would be offered a permanent position;
– refusal to renew a fixed-term employment contract or early termination of such a contract;
– causing damage, including to the reputation of the person concerned, in particular on social media platforms, or financial loss, including in the form of loss of business opportunities and loss of income;
– inclusion on a negative list or database, based on a sectoral or industry-wide agreement, formal or informal, which may imply that the person concerned will not find a job in the future in that sector or industry;
– unilateral extrajudicial termination of a contract for goods or services, without the conditions in this regard being met;
– cancellation of a license or permit;
– request for a psychiatric or medical evaluation.
The whistleblower may challenge the measures ordered as retaliation against him by means of a request addressed to the competent court, depending on the nature of the dispute, in whose territorial jurisdiction he is domiciled.
Contact details and time frame of the person responsible for monitoring the reports made by the whistleblower in the public interest:
• By e-mail to the address: avertizor@cfrcalatori.ro;
• Through postal services at the address: SNTFC” CFR Calatori” SA- Dinicu Golescu Blvd., no. 38, Sector 1, Bucharest
Declaration on the assumption of the organizational Integrity agenda in accordance with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2021 – 2025 | Download |
CFR Calatori’s Integrity Plan for the period 2021-2025 | Download |
Order 1269 / 2021 Annexes 1-5 | Download |