Law No. 179/2017 – which came into force on 29 December 2017 – introduced a public and private system of protection for whistleblowers in Italy. If a company that is incorporated in Italy or conducts business in Italy has adopted compliance policies and procedures, then those procedures must also set out an internal reporting channel for whistleblowing.

Law No. 179/2017 also establishes, inter alia, the following measures: (i) protection of the whistleblower’s identity; (ii) prohibition of demotion, dismissal or other retaliatory measures against the whistleblower; (iii) the entitlement of the whistleblower to report the adoption of discriminatory measures to the National Labor Inspectorate; and (iv) nullity of discriminatory or retaliatory dismissal of the whistleblower.

Whilst the Italian National Anti-bribery and Corruption Authority, has adopted guidelines and regulations which apply to the public sector, there are currently no such guidelines in the private sector.