Whistleblower Protection Act

The purpose of this Act is to protect whistleblowers and to ensure compliance with the provisions of laws and regulations relating to the protection of the lives, physical wellbeing, properties, and other interests of citizens by providing for the invalidity of dismissal of, and the prohibition, etc. of disadvantageous treatment of, whistleblowers on the grounds of whistleblowing and the measures, etc. to be taken by business operators and administrative bodies with regard to whistleblowing, thereby contributing to the stability of the lives of citizens and to the sound development of the society and economy.

The term "whistleblowing" as used in this Act means a report made by a person stated in the following items with no wrongful purpose such as a purpose of acquiring a wrongful gain or causing damage to others, that a reportable fact that has occurred, or is about to occur, concerning a business operator provided for in the respective items (meaning a corporation or other organization and an individual who engages in business; the same applies below) (referred to below as "recipient of services"), or its officer (meaning a corporate director, executive officer, accounting advisor, corporate auditor, director, inspector, and liquidator, and any other person who is engaged in the management of the corporation (excluding a financial auditor) under the provisions of laws and regulations (meaning laws as well as orders based on them; the same applies below); the same applies below), employee, agent, or other persons engaged in the business of the recipient of services, to the recipient of services or a person designated by the recipient of services in advance (referred to as "recipient of services or other designated person"), to an administrative body with the authority to impose a disposition (meaning an order, revocation, and other acts involving the exercise of public authority; the same applies below) or issue a recommendation, etc. (meaning a recommendation and other acts which are not dispositions; the same applies below) with regard to the reportable fact, or a person designated by the administrative body in advance (referred to as "administrative body or other designated person" in paragraph (1), item (ii) of the following Article and Article 6, paragraph (1), item (ii)), or to a person to whom reporting the reportable fact is considered necessary in order to prevent their occurrence or the spread of damage caused by them (including persons who suffered or are likely to suffer damage because of the reportable fact, but excluding persons who are likely to cause harm to the competitive position or other legitimate interests of the recipient of services; the same applies in paragraph (1), item (iii) of the following Article and Article 6, paragraph (1), item (iii)).

a dispatched worker (meaning a dispatched worker as prescribed in Article 2, item (ii) of the Act on Ensuring the Proper Operation of Worker Dispatching Services and Protecting Dispatched Workers (Act No. 88 of 1985; referred to as the "Worker Dispatching Act" in Article 4, paragraph (1), item (i)); the same applies below) or a former dispatched worker: the business operator that receives, or received within one year before the date of the relevant report, the services of worker dispatch (meaning worker dispatch as prescribed in item (i) of the same Article; the same applies in Article 4 and Article 5, paragraph (2)(1)) related to the relevant dispatched worker or the former dispatched worker;

a person who is or was a specified person engaged in entrusted business (meaning a specified person engaged in entrusted business as prescribed in Article 2, paragraph (2) of the Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators (Act No. 25 of 2023); the same applies below):a business operator who entrusts or entrusted business (referring to the business entrustment prescribed in paragraph (3) of the Article; the same applies below in this item and Article 5) to the current or former specified entrusted business operator (meaning a specified entrusted business operator as prescribed in paragraph (1) of the Article; the same applies below) regarding the specified person engaged in entrusted business, or a business operator who has entrusted business within one year before the date of the report;

a worker or a former worker, or a dispatched worker or a former dispatched worker, who is or was engaged in dispatched worker (referred to below as a "worker, etc." in this item and Article 11, paragraph (2)), or a former worker, etc., or a person who is or was a specified person engaged in entrusted business, any of whom are or were engaged in the business within one year before the date of the report, when a business operator specified in the preceding twothree items conducts or conducted the business based on a contract for work or other contract with another business operator: the relevant other business operator;

the facts constituting the grounds for a disposition based on the provisions of this Act and in the laws listed in the Appended Table, if the violation of the disposition constitutes the facts stated in the preceding item (including the facts constituting the grounds for issuing any other disposition, or grounds for issuing a recommendation, etc. or other act, if the facts constituting the grounds for the disposition constitute the violation of any other disposition based on the provisions of this Act or any of the laws listed in the Appended Table or the non-compliance with a recommendation, etc. or other act).