Whistleblow channel for reporting misconduct

The national Whistleblower Protection Act (1171/2022) entered into force on 1 January 2023. The Act implements the European Union’s Whistleblower Protection Directive. Its aim is to create effective protection for whistleblowers who, in the course of their work, discover breaches of European or national regulations in areas such as public procurement, financial services, food safety or consumer protection. Whistleblowing is important to prevent threats to the public interest and serious harm.

Reporting channels

In Finland, the Whistleblower Protection Act creates a system where private and public sector organisations (state and municipalities) that mainly employ at least 50 employees are obliged to establish an internal reporting channel. At Tampere University, we take suspicions of misconduct seriously and want to provide easy-to-use and confidential channels for bringing attention to breaches. Tampere University has established an internal reporting channel within the transition period laid down by the Act. Only Tampere University personnel have access to the internal reporting channel.

Other persons may submit a report related to Tampere University’s activities that fall within the scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act that they have noticed in their work to the centralised external reporting channel of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice. A notification to the external reporting channel can be submitted via the electronic form on the website of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice or alternatively by e-mail or orally. Contact information and instructions, as well as the conditions for filing a notification, can be found on the website of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice.

It is possible to report misconduct to the central external reporting channel of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice if:

the notifier does not have the possibility to report to the internal reporting channel
the notifier has reasonable grounds to believe that the internal report has not been acted upon within the time limit or that it does not allow the breach to be effectively addressed, or
the notifier has reasonable grounds to believe that he or she is at risk of retaliation as the result of reporting.

More information on the centralised external reporting channel can be found on the website of the Office of the Chancellor of Justice.