| (1) | Any person or body to whom a protected disclosure has been made in terms of section 6, 7 or 8, respectively, must, subject to subsection (3), as soon as reasonably possible, but in any event within 21 days after the protected disclosure has been made— |
| (i) | investigate the matter or not; or |
| (ii) | refer the disclosure to another person or body if that disclosure could be investigated or dealt with more appropriately by that other person or body; and |
| (b) | in writing acknowledge receipt of the disclosure by informing the employee or worker of the decision— |
| (i) | to investigate the matter, and where possible, the time-frame within which the investigation will be completed; |
| (ii) | not to investigate the matter and the reasons for such decision; or |
| (iii) | to refer the disclosure to another person or body. |
| (2) | The person or body to whom a disclosure is referred as contemplated in subsection (1)(a)(ii) must, subject to subsection (3), as soon as reasonably possible, but in any event within 21 days after such referral— |
| (a) | decide whether to investigate the matter or not; and |
| (b) | in writing inform the employee or worker of the decision— |
| (i) | to investigate the matter, and where possible, the time-frame within which the investigation will be completed; or |
| (ii) | not to investigate the matter and the reasons for such decision. |
| (3) | The person or body, referred to in subsection (1) or (2), who is unable to decide within 21 days whether a matter should be investigated or not, must— |
| (a) | in writing inform the employee or worker— |
| (i) | that he, she or it is unable to take the decision within 21 days; and |
| (ii) | on a regular basis, at intervals of not more than two months at a time, that the decision is still pending; and |
| (b) | as soon as reasonably possible, but in any event within six months after the protected disclosure has been made or after the referral has been made, as the case may be, in writing inform the employee or worker of the decision— |
| (i) | to investigate the matter, and where possible, the time-frame within which the investigation will be completed; or |
| (ii) | not to investigate the matter and the reasons for such decision. |
| (4) | The person or body, referred to in subsection (1) or (2), must, at the conclusion of an investigation, inform the employee or worker of the outcome thereof. |
| (5) | The person or body, referred to in subsection (1) or (2), does not have to comply with— |
| (a) | subsection (1)(b), (2)(b), (3) or (4) if that person or body does not know the identity and contact details of the employee or worker who has made the disclosure; or |
| (b) | subsection (1)(b), (2)(b) or (3) if it is necessary to avoid prejudice to the prevention, detection or investigation of a criminal offence |
[Section 3B inserted by section 4 of Notice No. 768, GG 41016, dated 2 August 2017]
