Whistleblowing

Notification according to Act No. 171/2023 Coll., on the Protection of Whistleblowers

What is notification?

Notification means an oral or written notification by a natural person containing information about a possible unlawful act of which the notifier became aware of in connection with work or other similar activity. Notifications are not ordinary or extraordinary remedies, requests to apply measures against inaction, objections, complaints under other legislation, requests under Act No. 106/1999 Coll., on freedom of access to information, as amended, or civil, commercial or employment law filings.

Who can be a whistleblower?

Any natural person who reports or discloses information about infringements of the law obtained in connection with work-related activities. The notifiers may be employees of PME spol. s r.o., job applicants, trainees, contract contractors of PME spol. s r.o. ensuring the performance of supplies, services, construction works or similar performance, and their employees, or also candidates for public contracts.

Who is the mandatory subject?

The mandatory entity is PME spol. s r.o., which is obliged to set up an internal notification system and designate the relevant person.

Legal regulation

The protection of whistleblowers is comprehensively regulated by Act No. 171/2023 Coll., on the protection of whistleblowers (hereinafter referred to as the “Whistleblower Protection Act”), in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons reporting violations of Union law and by Act No. 172/2023 Coll., amending certain laws in connection with the adoption of the Act on the Protection of Whistleblowers.

What is being announced?

The content of the notification shall include information on possible infringements which

• has the hallmarks of a crime,
• has signs of an offence for which the Whistleblowers Protection Act sets a penalty rate, the upper limit of which is at least CZK 100,000,
• infringes the Whistleblower Protection Act or violates any other law or regulation of the European Union in the areas defined in Section 2 (1) (d) of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Ways to submit notifications

Notifications can be submitted via the internal notification system of PME spol. s r.o., externally directly Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republicwhich can receive, provide feedback and monitor cases of reporting infringements and forward your notification to the relevant EU institutions, bodies or agencies.

Internal notification system

The notifier shall submit a notification via the internal notification system exclusively to the person concerned and shall be entitled to submit it in writing, orally or remotely. The person entrusted with the management of the internal notification system of PME spol. s r.o. is Dagmar Budařová (hereinafter referred to as the “Competent Person”). The person receiving the notification in the absence of the relevant person is Ing. Tomas Borán. You will be notified of receipt of the notification by 7 days from receipt of the notification.

To submit a notification through the internal notification system, the notifier may use:

• Written notification that can be sent to PME spol. s r.o., Kojetínská 3298/83, Přerov with the envelope “Whisleblowing”
• Remotely on https://oznam.pme.eu
• e-mail address oznam@pme.eu
• telephone line +420 581 225 267, every working day from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• personal meeting, by prior arrangement.

The Lesson of Knowingly False Notification

A natural person who submits a knowingly false notification shall not be protected from retaliation. The notifier commits an offence by submitting a knowingly false notification, for which a fine of up to CZK 50,000 may be imposed.