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Verkligt eller illusoriskt? - Om skyddet av visselblåsare i lagen, praktiken och framtiden

Arnetorp, Sara LU (2019) LAGF03 20191
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
De senaste åren har det förekommit flera uppmärksammade läckor från så kallade visselblåsare, både i Sverige och internationellt. För Sveriges del har läckorna framför allt rört oegentligheter hos myndigheter, oegentligheter som det ligger i allmänhetens intresse att ta del av. Visselblåsare riskerar trots det att hamna i utsatta situationer på grund av sitt handlande. Det är därför intressant att ta reda på vilket skydd som arbetstagare i offentlig sektor har enligt gällande rätt, hur kanaler för intern rapportering kan ordnas i praktiken och hur föreslagna bestämmelser på EU-nivå kan påverka visselblåsarskyddet i framtiden.

Den svenska regleringen av området består av rättighetsgrundande och rättighetsbegränsande regler,... (More)
De senaste åren har det förekommit flera uppmärksammade läckor från så kallade visselblåsare, både i Sverige och internationellt. För Sveriges del har läckorna framför allt rört oegentligheter hos myndigheter, oegentligheter som det ligger i allmänhetens intresse att ta del av. Visselblåsare riskerar trots det att hamna i utsatta situationer på grund av sitt handlande. Det är därför intressant att ta reda på vilket skydd som arbetstagare i offentlig sektor har enligt gällande rätt, hur kanaler för intern rapportering kan ordnas i praktiken och hur föreslagna bestämmelser på EU-nivå kan påverka visselblåsarskyddet i framtiden.

Den svenska regleringen av området består av rättighetsgrundande och rättighetsbegränsande regler, repressalieskydd och rapporteringsskyldighet. Rätten för offentliganställda att larma är som utgångspunkt stark och exempelvis reglerna i lagen om anställningsskydd ger skydd mot repressalier. Trots det ger lagen arbetsgivare möjligheten att köpa ut anställda vilket kraftigt inskränker visselblåsarskyddet.

Svenska offentliga arbetsgivare har valt att organisera sina larmkanaler på olika sätt; vissa saknar dem helt medan andra har upphandlat tjänsten från en tredje part för att garantera anonymitet. Förslaget till EU-direktiv som ska skydda anställda som larmar om brott mot unionsrätten är långt mer omfattande än de svenska reglerna och omfattar krav på arbetsgivare att ordna interna rutiner för rapportering, uppföljning och återkoppling som skyddar rapportörens identitet. Detta är något som kommer påverka flera av arbetsgivarna som har undersökts i uppsatsen.

Slutligen bör det noteras att visselblåsning som rättsområde är betydligt mer omfattande än man kan tro vid första ögonkastet, trots att det inte är ett vanligt ämne för rättsvetenskapen. Det kan dock komma att få en större betydelse i framtiden, om det föreslagna EU-direktivet träder i kraft. (Less)
Abstract
In recent years several controversial leaks from so called whistle-blowers have occurred, both in Sweden and internationally. The Swedish leaks have primarily concerned irregularities in government agencies, irregularities that are of public interest. Despite this, whistle-blowers risk ending up in vulnerable positions because of their actions. Therefore, it is of interest to find out what protection employees in the public sector enjoy, how channels for internal reporting may be arranged in practice and how proposed regulations from the EU may affect the protection of whistle-blowers in the future.

The Swedish regulations of the field consist of rules that provide and limit rights, rules of protection against retaliation and rules that... (More)
In recent years several controversial leaks from so called whistle-blowers have occurred, both in Sweden and internationally. The Swedish leaks have primarily concerned irregularities in government agencies, irregularities that are of public interest. Despite this, whistle-blowers risk ending up in vulnerable positions because of their actions. Therefore, it is of interest to find out what protection employees in the public sector enjoy, how channels for internal reporting may be arranged in practice and how proposed regulations from the EU may affect the protection of whistle-blowers in the future.

The Swedish regulations of the field consist of rules that provide and limit rights, rules of protection against retaliation and rules that create an obligation to report. The right to report is well-established in Swedish law and for example the Swedish Employment Protection Act protects workers against retaliation. Still, the law gives employers the ability to buy out employees and this radically reduces the protection granted to whistle-blowers.

Swedish public employers have chosen to organize their reporting channels differently; some completely lacks them, and others have procured the service from a third party to ensure anonymity. The proposed EU directive that is meant to protect employees who report on breaches of the union law is far more extensive than the Swedish rules and includes rules requiring employers to organize internal channels for reporting, follow up and feedback protecting the identity of the whistle-blower. This is something that will affect several of the employers that are part of this essay. Finally, it should be noted that the legal field concerning whistle-blowers, while not a common subject in legal research, is far more extensive than one might believe at first sight. It is likely to become a more common occurrence in the future, though, if the proposed EU-directive enters into force. (Less)
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author
Arnetorp, Sara LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20191
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Arbetsrätt, Visselblåsare.
language
Swedish
id
8977200
date added to LUP
2019-09-16 10:25:57
date last changed
2019-09-16 10:25:57
@misc{8977200,
  abstract     = {{In recent years several controversial leaks from so called whistle-blowers have occurred, both in Sweden and internationally. The Swedish leaks have primarily concerned irregularities in government agencies, irregularities that are of public interest. Despite this, whistle-blowers risk ending up in vulnerable positions because of their actions. Therefore, it is of interest to find out what protection employees in the public sector enjoy, how channels for internal reporting may be arranged in practice and how proposed regulations from the EU may affect the protection of whistle-blowers in the future.

The Swedish regulations of the field consist of rules that provide and limit rights, rules of protection against retaliation and rules that create an obligation to report. The right to report is well-established in Swedish law and for example the Swedish Employment Protection Act protects workers against retaliation. Still, the law gives employers the ability to buy out employees and this radically reduces the protection granted to whistle-blowers. 

Swedish public employers have chosen to organize their reporting channels differently; some completely lacks them, and others have procured the service from a third party to ensure anonymity. The proposed EU directive that is meant to protect employees who report on breaches of the union law is far more extensive than the Swedish rules and includes rules requiring employers to organize internal channels for reporting, follow up and feedback protecting the identity of the whistle-blower. This is something that will affect several of the employers that are part of this essay. Finally, it should be noted that the legal field concerning whistle-blowers, while not a common subject in legal research, is far more extensive than one might believe at first sight. It is likely to become a more common occurrence in the future, though, if the proposed EU-directive enters into force.}},
  author       = {{Arnetorp, Sara}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Verkligt eller illusoriskt? - Om skyddet av visselblåsare i lagen, praktiken och framtiden}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}