Whistleblower system

We hereby inform you about the Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG), which came into force on July 2, 2023. This law is intended to ensure improved protection for whistleblowers who have obtained information about violations of laws, internal guidelines and grievances in the workplace in connection with their professional activities or in advance of a professional activity and who report or disclose these to the reporting offices provided for under the HinSchG (whistleblowers). With this report, you contribute to the prevention, detection and elimination of errors in our company. You are often the first to know when something goes wrong in our company.

If you become aware of suspicious circumstances in connection with or prior to your professional activities, you can contact our internal reporting office with as much specific information as possible. We take the requirements for the protection of whistleblowers seriously and ensure that you do not have to fear any disadvantageous measures due to or following a justified report.

This reporting office is available to all employees and business partners in person, by telephone, by letter or by e-mail for all compliance and data protection issues.

Contact details of the internal reporting office:

Law firm Thomas
Lawyer Ina Thomas
Echelnteichweg 108
58640 Iserlohn
Tel: 02371-9-444-29
Fax 02371-9-444-39
info@anwaltskanzlei-thomas.eu

In addition, whistleblowers are free to contact the federal government's external reporting offices (also directly).

Please note: A deliberately false report may have consequences under criminal law.

Notes on reporting violations

All employees and our business partners (customers and suppliers) are entitled to submit reports. You can of course also submit your report anonymously by not providing any personal data that would allow you to be identified. Please note, however, that the investigation of a violation may be more targeted if you provide your contact details. Your identity will not be disclosed without your express consent to anyone other than the responsible persons in the internal reporting office and the responsible departments and offices that need to be involved (however, this would only be done with your express consent).

Only the responsible persons in the internal reporting office will be informed of your report in a first step and will accompany the further essential steps of the investigation. All information in your report will be treated in strict confidence. Important: The identity of persons who report false information due to gross negligence or intent will not be protected from disclosure in accordance with the HinSchG.

The purpose of the whistleblower system is to receive reports of violations of the law, internal guidelines and grievances in the workplace. It covers violations caused by actions and/or omissions in the course of professional, entrepreneurial or official activities that are unlawful and/or abusive and concern regulations and areas of law that fall within the material scope of the HinSchG. For general complaints or questions about our services, please use our general contact address. Reports of purely private misconduct of which the whistleblower becomes aware in connection with their professional activities are also not covered.

The report must contain the following information:
- Which company is involved?
- Which category does the incident to be reported fall into, e.g. occupational safety, finance?
- Personal details of the whistleblower, also possible anonymously
- As precise and detailed a description of the incident as possible
- When did the incident occur?
- Where did the incident take place?
- Who were the persons involved or affected?
- What evidence is there of the reported incident, e.g. reliable and verifiable documents, witnesses.

Please only submit reports where you are certain that the facts you are reporting are true. Please refrain from deliberately false claims or untrue facts.

Upon receipt of your report, you will receive a confirmation of receipt. You will then receive feedback from the internal reporting office within a maximum of three months of receipt of the report.

The data will be deleted three years after the conclusion of the procedure in accordance with Section 11 (5) HinSchG. In addition, data may be stored for a longer period of time if this is justified to protect business interests, in particular to fulfill legal and statutory retention periods.