The term “whistleblower” refers to people who point out unethical or illegal behaviour by individuals or organisations. If the information is provided at an early stage, negative consequences can often be avoided. The best-known whistleblower today is probably Edward Snowden.
Companies with more than 50 employees must set up a reporting hotline for whistleblowers by 17 December 2023. The basis for this measure is a European Union directive on the protection of whistleblowers, which all member states must implement into national law. The system is intended to enable whistleblowers to report any breaches of regulations and laws to a company confidentially and directly.
A whistleblower system has become standard in all large and most medium-sized companies. It is part of compliance management, which serves to promote and monitor the compliant behaviour of company management and employees. It comprises all rules in a company, i.e. both statutory provisions and internal company guidelines.
Legislators and, increasingly, our business partners are demanding such a solution.
We have therefore set up an internal reporting hotline for reporting suspicious cases. Employees as well as customers and suppliers can contact the hotline in writing, by phone or in person.
We have been able to win Sieglinde Oettl, an external consultant, for our hotline.
Mrs Oettl is independent in her work, free from conflicts of interest and has the necessary specialist knowledge thanks to her many years of professional experience as a qualified business economist (FH).
All reports are subject to confidentiality
The confidentiality requirement is important. This means protecting the identity of the group of persons concerned – i.e. the person making the report, the persons who are the subject of a report and other persons mentioned in the report. The report is therefore only known to the person responsible.
Reports and suspected cases can be submitted
in writing via and
orally via the telephone number +49 791 / 943 070 22. Please leave a message on the voicebox.
You can also contact Mrs Oettl via the telephone number to arrange for a personal appointment. Please leave a message telling Mrs Oettl how to contact you to arrange a meeting.
Any suspicious cases reported are of course checked for validity before any further action is taken. It is therefore important to only report cases for which you have evidence so that they do not remain unsubstantiated.
