MAINSYSTEMS 
1. Core Concepts and Legal Context
Today we will learn to identify the information needed to assess the organisation's duties. Throughout the video, consider the difference between knowing a rule and applying it to a decision. We will work through an example, identify a possible failure and develop a response that can be used at work. An integrity programme connects risks, behaviour, controls and reporting channels. The obligation to protect whistleblowers must be assessed under national law. The prevention measures used in the examples are good practice unless identified as a specific legal obligation applicable to the organisation.
The assessment starts with the legal entity, its activities and the territory in which it operates. In Ireland, count employees for the general internal-channel threshold of 50 employees and distinguish them from the wider category of protected workers. Identify public or private status and sector-specific exceptions. A size threshold does not answer every question. Channel duties, protection and corruption prevention may have different scopes.
Apply the following rule: Public bodies and, generally, private employers with 50 or more employees must establish, maintain and operate internal reporting channels. The threshold does not apply to employers within the specified sectors in the Annex. Employees counted for that threshold must be distinguished from the wider category of workers entitled to protection. The designated follow-up function must be impartial and competent.
2. Practical Application and National Rule
Create a record of the entity's legal form, location, size, regulated activities and group structure. Consult national law and record the conclusion and date. Do not automatically count all subsidiaries as a single entity. Where regional powers apply, identify the relevant territorial legislation as well. Link each duty to the source that establishes it. Before moving on, turn this procedure into a sequence you could explain to a colleague. Identify the first check, the action that depends on its outcome and the record that allows the decision to be reconstructed. Follow the sequence on screen and identify the point where an error would change the result.
A fictional company has eighty employees. An association has thirty and a public body has twenty. The first meets the general size threshold described. For the others, the assessment does not end with the headcount: the sector, public status and specific prevention and reporting-channel obligations must also be examined. Now read the case carefully. Separate established facts from information you would still need to confirm. Do not add motives or events that have not been described. This distinction matters when choosing a response proportionate to the information available.
3. Case Study and Key Decision Points
The exercise is as follows: Can an organisation conclude that it has no prevention duties simply because it has fewer than fifty employees? Choose an answer and write one sentence explaining it. During the pause, compare your choice with the criteria we have just considered. Also think about the material you would retain to explain the decision later.
No. Size is one factor, but it does not replace an assessment of the entity's nature, sector or territorial rules. The conclusion must distinguish the channel obligation, conditions for protection and prevention measures. A reasoned assessment explains why a particular duty was considered applicable.
One mistake to avoid is: using the fifty-employee threshold as a universal answer across different legal regimes.
Now apply the national rule to a second decision. A subsidiary copies its foreign head office's policy without assessing its own activities and size. What must it check?
Identify the local legal entity, sector, national counting method and any public-sector or territorial regimes. Then link each obligation to a source and a responsible person. A group model can support operations but does not replace this assessment.
Remember these three points. First: Identify the entity and its sector. Second: Distinguish the channel from the prevention programme. Third: Record the legal basis for the assessment.
To apply this learning, retrieve the procedure used in your organisation or consider how you would create it. Identify one difference between that procedure and the case we have just resolved. Write down the change you would propose and the information needed to justify it. You can complete this short task in the handout accompanying the video.
The expected outcome of this unit is the ability to identify the information needed to assess the organisation's duties. Review the explained answer whenever you are unsure and keep the summary to support a future decision.
In the worksheet, connect your proposal to this video's national rule. Identify the document or platform field that would need to change and who should approve the change. If you conclude that it is good practice, explain the risk you intend to reduce. If you conclude that there is a legal duty, record its source and scope.