How to submit a report?

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If you identify a violation at your workplace, you can report it as a whistleblower in three different ways:

  • through your employer’s internal channel,
  • through an external channel or,
  • in exceptional cases, by publicly disclosing the facts.

If you are unsure which option applies to your situation, you may contact the Office for whistleblowers in advance. We can guide you through the available procedures and help you determine the appropriate steps.

 

Contact the Office confidentially

Anyone wishing to obtain information about:

  • the procedures to be followed in order to make a report, or
  • the applicable legislation on the protection of whistleblowers,

can contact the Office directly in French, Luxembourgish, German or English by using the MyGuichet form or through the other means of communication listed below. Any person wishing to provide the Office with information on any non-compliance with the establishment of internal reporting channels can also get in touch with the Office. Any request for information or any report will be handled with strict confidentiality regarding the identity of the person making the request or the potential whistleblower.

The MyGuichet reporting platform set up by OSIG guarantees the completeness, integrity and confidentiality of the information transmitted. Only authorised members of OSIG staff have access to it and are bound by professional secrecy.

You can contact OSIG:

Internal reporting channel

You can report a breach using your organisation's internal reporting channel. Please note that not all employers are required to set up an internal reporting channel and this option may therefore not be available to you.

An internal report may be made orally or in writing, either by telephone, e-mail, mail or via an online platform. It is recommended to check what type of internal channel your employer has put in place and follow the advice provided by your organisation on how to submit a whistleblowing report.

If your organisation does not have an internal reporting channel or you prefer to use another channel, for fear of retaliation for example, you have the possibility to make a report via an external channel or, in exceptional cases, by making a public disclosure. 

External reporting channel

You can report a breach through an external channel, meaning to one of the 23 competent authorities designated by the Law. The most appropriate external channel depends on your sector or industry, and the nature of the violation you wish to report.

Please consult the list of competent authorities or contact us if you are unsure which competent authority should receive your report.

It is strongly recommended to use an external reporting channel when:

  • your employer has no internal reporting channel or it is not functioning properly;  
  • you have already made an internal report, but it has not been properly followed up;
  • you have reason to believe you may face retaliation, or that the external authority is better placed to take effective action. 

You have the right to submit an anonymous report through an external channel. 

Public disclosure

In exceptional circumstances, you may also benefit from the protections offered by the Law by publicly disclosing the violations, for example by communicating it to the press or by sharing it on social media or a website.

You are protected when making a public disclosure only if:  

  • you have reasonable grounds to believe that an imminent or manifest danger exists, or
  • you have already reported through an external channel and consider that no appropriate action has been taken, or
  • you reasonably believe that reporting through an external channel would expose you to retaliation, or that the external authority would be unable to effectively address the situation (for example due to a risk of evidence being concealed or a risk of collusion between the competent authority and the person responsible for the breach).

If you make a public disclosure without meeting one of the conditions limitatively set out in the Law, you will not be able to benefit from whistleblower protection.

Legal obligations to report criminal offences

Except in exceptional circumstances, any person who becomes aware of a crime whose effects can still be prevented or limited, or whose perpetrators are likely to commit further preventable crimes, is required to inform the judicial or administrative authorities (see Article 140 of the Criminal Code).

In addition, any constituted authority, public officer, civil servant, or any employee entrusted with a public service mission, whether under public or private law, who, in the course of their duties, becomes aware of facts that may constitute a crime or misdemeanour, must immediately notify the public prosecutor and transmit to the magistrate all relevant information, reports and documents, notwithstanding any applicable rules of confidentiality or professional secrecy (see Article 23(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

Beyond these obligations, any person has the right to file a complaint or report criminal acts  to the judicial or police authorities.