Whistleblowing in the Slovak labor law regulation

Corrupt behaviour is a common practice with negative effects on the whole of society. For instance, if a company wins a public procurement contract in an unfair way, it enriches itself not only at the expense of competition, but also at the expense of the whole of society, as the best applicant has not necessarily been selected within such a procurement. The same applies in the case of a supplier launching an unsafe product onto the market, threatening the health of everyone who buys it. In order to prevent such malpractice and eliminate their negative effects, the cooperation of persons aware of such behaviours is necessary. In order to ensure such cooperation, however, the existence of instruments protecting whistle-blowers against various sanctions (especially by employers) is necessary. As Slovak legislation did not include a regulation of procedures for reporting malpractice and protecting whistle-blowers, a new law aimed at solving such issues was enacted in October, 2014. The given legal regulation took effect on January 1, 2015. This paper endeavours to provide basic knowledge of the environment that the given regulation entered, as well as information on the possibilities of individuals to protect social interests on its grounds.