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Zagreb - Sixty-eight, mostly opposition amendments to the Act on the Reporting of Irregularities, colloquially called the whistleblower protection law, were rejected by a government representative in the Parliament on Thursday.
Explaining their amendments, opposition MPs said the law was being amended because of irrelevant details of alignment with EU directives while failing to give priority to the protection of workers who risk their livelihoods by reporting a major corruption case in the state or public administration institution where they work.
"This bill reduces the protection of whistleblowers to a footnote or even less than that," said Centre MP Dalija Orešković.
An amendment by the Green-Left Bloc put emphasis on whistleblower protection, proposing the prevention of employer retaliation against whistleblowers.
"One should explicitly forbid retaliation by employers who frequently resort to employment contract termination or warnings before dismissal to intimidate workers," said Urša Raukar Gamulin of the We Can! party, with Workers' Front MP Katarina Peović stressing that a warning prior to dismissal is a very sensitive institute that should be incorporated in the law.
There is no time limit on a warning prior to dismissal, it stays in the records until one's retirement and the employer can refer to it any time they wish to fire a worker, she said.
The bill defines the procedure for reporting irregularities, and the Green-Left Bloc and the Social Democrats submitted amendments that would prevent the employer from appointing someone close to them as a trusted person to whom irregularities are reported.
"Those should be impartial, objective persons. We do not recommend the appointment of trusted persons by employers and without the participation of workers," Raukar said.
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) asked in its amendments for providing whistleblowers with full legal aid and exempting them from the payment of court costs and fees, in line with the Free Legal Aid Act.
Raukar said in conclusion that the proposed amendments came from reality, job loss, and threatened livelihoods.
"You did not accept any of the amendments and you have failed to make this law a powerful tool in the fight against corruption, which is the reason why people are emigrating," Raukar told the government.