Who must have a whistleblowing channel?

The 50-employee threshold

As a general rule, legal persons employing 50 or more workers are covered. There are specific provisions, exceptions and sectors subject to their own rules.

Entities with fewer than 50 employees

Some entities may be covered regardless of the number of workers, depending on their activity and the applicable European legislation.

Municipalities and public-sector entities

The law contains specific rules for public entities and local authorities. Its application should be confirmed on the basis of the current wording of the law and the specific context.

How to confirm whether the obligation applies

Gather information on legal form, number of workers, sector and group structure. Obtain legal validation before defining the procedure.

The general threshold of 50 workers

The general rule should be assessed for each legal person and on the basis of the applicable definition of worker. The count, group structure and existence of entities with separate legal personality may affect implementation, so the decision should not be based only on an aggregated number.

Activities and entities with specific rules

Certain activities covered by European legislation and some types of entity may be subject to obligations regardless of the general threshold. Financial services, anti-money laundering, transport safety and environmental protection are examples of areas requiring a specific assessment.

Groups, local authorities and legal validation

Corporate groups may share resources under certain conditions but must preserve confidentiality and each entity’s ability to follow up. Public entities and local authorities have specific rules. The technical solution should only be configured after the applicable legal framework has been confirmed.

Information needed to confirm the obligation

The assessment should be made for each legal entity, not solely from a group’s consolidated total. Portuguese Law No. 93/2021 sets a general 50-worker threshold, sector-specific situations and particular rules for public bodies, branches, local authorities and resource sharing.

Prepare an entity sheet containing:

• Legal form, registered office, branches and entities with separate legal personality.
• Number of workers and the method used to perform the count.
• Business sector and possible coverage by specific European Union acts.
• Confirmation of whether the entity has 50 or more workers.
• Rules for public bodies and, for local authorities, the number of inhabitants.
• Potential resource sharing for private entities with 50 to 249 workers.
• Local owners, conflict handling and information separation within the group.
• Legal assessment, internal decision and planned date for reviewing the framework.