The protection of whistleblowers refers to a person who, in the course of their work, discovers a breach of European Union or national law concerning public procurement, the protection of privacy or personal data, or the security of network and information systems, for example, and reports it to the reporting channel and reports the breach via a reporting channel. Reporting these breaches is important to prevent threats and serious harm to public interest.
Whistleblower protection is based on the national Act on whistleblower protection (“Whistleblower Act”) and the European Union’s whistleblower directive.
Partners of the Geological Survey of Finland, individuals who have worked for the organisation, and former employees may submit a report concerning activities of the Geological Survey that falls within the scope of the Whistleblower Act, based on observations made in the course of their work, through the centralised external reporting channel of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice:
Centralised external reporting channel – the Office of the Chancellor of Justice
The Geological Survey of Finland also has an internal reporting channel, which is the primary channel for reports made by current staff.
A report may concern misconduct observed in connection with work that falls within the scope of the Whistleblower Act. At the reporting stage, it is sufficient to have reasonable grounds to believe that the suspicion is valid; concrete evidence of misconduct is not required at this stage.
A report submitted to the centralised external reporting channel of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice must include:
Instructions from the Office of the Chancellor of Justice on how to submit a report
The Office of the Chancellor of Justice will issue an acknowledgement of receipt within seven days of submission at the latest. After this, the Office will forward the report to the competent authority responsible for handling the matter.
Whistleblower protection enables individuals to report misconduct safely and in a manner that protects their identity. Information concerning the identity of the reporting person is confidential also during the further processing of the report.
Reporting persons are protected against retaliatory measures, such as deterioration of employment conditions, termination of employment, lay-offs, other unfavourable treatment, or the imposition of adverse consequences.
There are three general conditions for protection:
Reports that are clearly false or misleading do not qualify for protection. A reporting person may also be subject to criminal liability for knowingly submitting false information.
The national Act on whistleblower protection (“Whistleblower Act”)
The European Union’s whistleblower directive
Directive – 2019/1937 – EN – EUR-Lex
More detailed information on reporting and whistleblower protection is available on the website of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice.
