The Struggle of Switzerland with the Protection of Whistleblowers
The EU Whistleblower Protection Directive came into force on 16 December 2019. Switzerland continues to struggle with this topic: the Swiss National Council (Nationalrat) dismissed a draft law on its introduction on 3 June 2019 and, after the Swiss Council of States (Ständerat) approved the draft law without changes on 16 December 2019, dismissed it again on 5 March 2020. In the end, following a long legislative process, whistleblowers in Switzerland remain without statutory protection. Swiss corporations with foreign business must deal with foreign rules, i.e. the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive, on their own. Presumably, the OECD’s evaluation of Switzerland may not become a positive evaluation in the short term. Click here here to read the article analyzing the situation in Switzerland.