What falls under retaliation against a whistleblower?

Retaliation is a broad, open-ended list of adverse measures

Retaliation is any form of adverse treatment that a whistleblower experiences because they have made a report, and this is a much broader concept than dismissal alone. Article 19 of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 lists a series of examples, and that list is not intended to be exhaustive: suspension, demotion, withholding of promotion, negative assessment, disciplinary action, intimidation, exclusion by colleagues, discrimination, non-renewal of a fixed-term contract, relocation or change of working hours against the whistleblower's will, financial damage and reputational damage all fall under it. Even something more subtle than a formal measure counts: being systematically passed over for assignments, suddenly being assessed more strictly than before, or feeling that a team no longer wants to work with you.

The Directive looks beyond the whistleblower alone. Someone who assists a whistleblower, a colleague regarded as a witness, or an organization with which the whistleblower is connected — such as their own company whose contract is suddenly terminated — may also fall under protection against retaliation. What always matters is the connection between the report and the harm: did the negative assessment come about because a report was made, or was it unrelated to it? The Whistleblowing House does not assess that question for an individual whistleblower as an arbitrator; anyone facing possible retaliation can report it there for advice on how to proceed.

Article 19 of the Directive lists the forms, Article 21 the protection

The basis for this broad interpretation lies in Directive (EU) 2019/1937: Article 19 sets out the forms of retaliation against which protection applies, and Article 21 regulates the measures that protect a whistleblower against that retaliation, including the possibility to turn to an authority. The Dutch Whistleblower Protection Act incorporates this protection into Dutch legislation; for questions about a specific situation, the Whistleblowing House is the appropriate point of contact.