Recital 38
Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law · UE 2019/1937
| (38) | Protection should, firstly, apply to persons having the status of ‘workers’, within the meaning of Article 45(1) TFEU, as interpreted by the Court, namely persons who, for a certain period of time, perform services for and under the direction of another person, in return for which they receive remuneration. Protection should, thus, also be granted to workers in non-standard employment relationships, including part-time workers and fixed-term contract workers, as well as persons with a contract of employment or employment relationship with a temporary agency, precarious types of relationships where standard forms of protection against unfair treatment are often difficult to apply. The concept of ‘worker’ also includes civil servants, public service employees, as well as any other persons working in the public sector. |
In Luxembourg, the law of 16 May 2023 on the protection of whistleblowers literally transposes the European concept of worker and explicitly extends it to state and municipal civil servants, military personnel, magistrates and public establishment agents. The OFRS (Office des rapports de signalement) is the cross-cutting external authority, and the ITM monitors effective access to the channel for agency workers and fixed-term contract holders. Criminal penalties range from EUR 1,250 to EUR 25,000, doubled in case of repeat offence, for obstruction of a report or retaliation.
Luxgap practice: ensure that your internal whistleblowing policy explicitly names agency workers, paid trainees, former employees and candidates, and that the reporting form is accessible without internal AD authentication. This is the first point the OFRS checks.
