we're currently under fifty employees, can we shut down the reporting channel

Organizations with fewer than fifty employees does not automatically mean shutting down

No, the fact that an organization falls below fifty employees at any given time does not mean that the reporting channel can be discontinued immediately. The obligation to have an internal reporting channel is linked to the number of employees, but neither the Directive nor the Whistleblower Protection Act operates with a snapshot that is tested anew every day. In practice, attention is given to a stable situation: an organization that structurally falls below the threshold is in a different position than an organization that temporarily has a few fewer people due to natural attrition, seasonal work, or a reorganization that has just been initiated. For the precise threshold and how it is determined, it is good to look at the explanation about from how many employees a reporting channel is mandatory.

In addition, shutting down an active reporting channel also has practical and organizational consequences that are separate from the legal obligation. Employees who have made a report have the right to have it handled according to the ongoing procedure, and a channel that disappears abruptly while there are still cases pending is difficult to justify to the works council and staff. It is also relevant who exactly counts when determining the number of employees: if there is doubt about the counting method, it is advisable to look at who counts towards the threshold of fifty, because an organization that appears to be below fifty on paper may still be above the limit when temporary workers or on-call workers are counted.

Where this follows from: Article 8 of the Directive and Article 2 of the Whistleblower Protection Act

Article 8 of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 links the obligation to have an internal reporting channel to the threshold of fifty employees, and Article 2 of the Whistleblower Protection Act implements this for the Dutch situation. Neither provision explicitly regulates what happens when there is a temporary drop below that threshold, which means that organizations facing this situation are well advised to weigh their own staffing developments against the existing procedure before making any changes. The House for Whistleblowers provides general information for employers on the scope of the obligation.