This first issue of the legal news is intended to introduce the legal services we offer and have successfully provided for some time now within the legal and tax service line at EY Slovenia. In addition, in the second section of the news, we would also like to inform you of the new proposal of the Applicants' Protection Act (Whistleblower Protection Act), which is currently in the coordination and adoption process.
Introduction
Our legal services are primarily intended to supplement the portfolio of existing EY Slovenia services and are aimed at providing a comprehensive approach to analyzing and solving your problems from all aspects, while providing legally sound and efficient solutions. With our multidisciplinary one-stop shop approach, we help reduce the gap between tax / business and legal advisers, increase efficiency and speed and at the same time reduce costs.
We offer legal advisory services in the following areas:
- Corporate law
- Labor law
- Acquisitions, mergers, and restructurings
- Banking and finance
- Commercial contracts
- Competition law
- Migration law
- Information technology
- Insolvency law
- Intellectual property
- Public procurement
- New technologies
- Personal data protection.
Our legal team has extensive experience in corporate law and transactions. We assist clients in establishing new companies and branches, status reorganization and changes of group companies, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and in setting up and reviewing company's internal acts.
We are experts in the field of labor law. We advise our clients on a daily basis regarding the application and interpretation of legislation and case law in this area and assist them in the preparation of employment contracts, their termination and the preparation of internal company rules.
We also offer entity compliance and management advisory services, which are tailored to your wishes and needs. We can offer you in-depth advice on compliance issues, storage and processing of personal data. Our comprehensive consulting also includes the review, preparation and analysis of documents in the field of personal data protection.
At EY, we help you improve your business efficiency by recognizing that companies need to be able to manage regulatory risks and meet regulatory requirements, while remaining competitive. We are often approached by clients for help in the transition to more sustainable and greener busines models, where we offer our help to meet legal requirements in accordance with Slovenian and European legislation.
EY Slovenia's legal department is also part of the EY Law network with more than 700 offices in more than 150 countries, which enables us to provide services in the field of foreign legislation as well.
Applicant's Protection Act
In early December, the Ministry of Justice published a proposal for the Applicants’ Protection Act, better known to the public as the Whistleblower Protection Act, which implements Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. The Act is currently in interdepartmental coordination, however, we do not expect major content changes of the Act.
The proposal stipulates the establishment of channels for reporting violations, the procedure and competent bodies for dealing with violations, the prohibition of retaliatory measures against the applicant, the protection of applicants and the powers of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption. The proposal covers a wide range of areas, the most important of which are public procurement, financial services, products and markets and the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, product security and compliance, environmental protection, public health, consumer protection, privacy and personal data protection and network and information systems security.
According to the proposal, employees, job candidates, intermediaries, anonymous applicants whose identities are later revealed, and those who help whistleblowers - friends and relatives will be entitled to protection.
The Act imposes an obligation on public and private entities with 50 or more employees (hereinafter referred to as “liable persons") to establish an internal route for reporting and in the event of non-compliance with this obligation, it imposes fines. Retaliation against the applicant, such as termination of employment, discrimination, low performance appraisal, etc. are not allowed.
In the event of the adoption of the proposed Act, liable persons will have to introduce the necessary procedures within the deadlines set by the proposal. Namely, liable persons with more than 250 employees within 60 days of the Act coming into force, and liable persons with up to 249 employees by 17 December 2023.
How can EY help you?
EY experts can help you set up and manage infringement and fraud reporting mechanisms and tools to report unethical practices, breaches of company policies, illegal practices, or signs of other abuses.
