Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz (Whistleblower Protection Act) - Internal Reporting Office of HAWE Group (Germany)

Effective July 2, 2023, the Federal Republic of Germany implemented the European Whistleblower Directive into German law through the Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz (German) (Whistleblower Protection Act).

This will provide employees with a regulatory framework that will enable them to better report violations of the law or corresponding suspicions in the company in the future. To protect the whistleblower, the company must set up a qualified internal reporting office that treats the identity of the whistleblower confidentially. The company is strictly forbidden to take reprisals against the whistleblower for making a conscientious report. The whistleblower will receive feedback on the fate of his or her report.

At HAWE, the same reporting possibility and the same protection are also given to persons not employed by the company who are in contact with the company in the course of their professional activities (e.g. the employees of customers and suppliers of the company).

There is no obligation to report, it is purely voluntary. However, HAWE expressly welcomes relevant reports in order to be able to quickly identify and remedy or prevent any violations. The internal reporting office of HAWE Group (Germany) is located in the legal department of HAWE Hydraulik SE (Aschheim) and offers the following reporting channels.

 

Internal reporting office HAWE Group (Germany)

Phone Hotline: +49 89 379100-1735

E-Mail adress: compliance (at) hawe.de

On request: personal conversation

Wide personal scope of application and protection

In particular, employees, trainees, quasi-employees and temporary workers assigned to the company are considered to be employees.

Equally authorized to report are non-employee natural persons who are in contact with the company in the course of their professional activities (e.g. employees of customers and suppliers of the company).

Protected from reprisals are not only the reporting persons themselves, but also third parties who are in contact with the whistleblower (e.g. relatives of the whistleblower who are also employed by the company) and third-party companies that have a professional relationship with the whistleblower (e.g. the supplier company whose freelance employee makes a report).

Material scope of application: Only violations of the law

The factual scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act exclusively includes findings and reasonable suspicions of completed, attempted or imminent criminal offenses (all) and certain violations of fines (e.g., occupational safety, product liability, environmental protection, foreign trade, antitrust law, corruption, money laundering, data protection). Therefore, only the HinSchG-specific reporting channels are to be used for internal notifications of criminal offenses and fines, if applicable.

Internal reporting office according to Whistleblower Protection Act

The reporting office set up by HAWE Hydraulik SE has been instructed to also receive and process reports regarding HAWE Micro Fluid GmbH and Schienle Magnettechnik + Elektronik GmbH. It is independent from which of these three companies the whistleblower derives his reporting authority, e.g. at which of the companies he is employed or with which company he is in professional contact. For the current reporting channels, please refer to the above.

1. Whistleblower reports to internal reporting office via one of the reporting channels

2. Reporting office records information via reporting channels (no tape recording is made)

3. Reporting office clarifies with whistleblower whether message understood correctly

4. If a textual feedback channel is available, the reporting office sends the whistleblower an acknowledgement of receipt within seven days of the message being sent

5. Reporting office checks conclusiveness of the message

6. Reporting office investigates conclusive information (clarification of facts), if necessary with queries to whistleblower

7. Reporting office evaluates the result of the investigation and, if necessary, initiates follow-up measures in order to put an end to the violation, to impose sanctions and to prevent recurrences

8. Reporting office prepares final report

9. If a feedback channel exists, the reporting office informs the whistleblower within three months about the fate of his report, in particular about follow-up measures taken/planned, alternatively about the interim status

10. After expiry of the deletion period, the reporting office arranges for the deletion of the case documentation.

 

Anonymous report?

The legislator deliberately refrained from obliging companies to create anonymous reporting channels, specifically because the associated anonymous feedback channel from the reporting office to the whistleblower is technically difficult to implement.

Our internal reporting office will nevertheless gladly accept anonymous tips, for example if you contact the hotline via your private telephone with a suppressed number. Please note, however, that in this case we will not be able to actively contact you for questions about the facts of the case or information about measures taken. You would therefore tacitly forego our active feedback in the case of anonymous notification. However, you would always have the option of contacting MROS again on your own initiative in order to help clarify the facts of the case or to obtain information about the status of the case.

Confidentiality, data privacy notice

The use of our internal reporting channels or complaint procedures is voluntary and may require the processing of your personal data by HAWE Hydraulik SE and, as far as they are concerned, also by HAWE Micro Fluid GmbH or Schienle Magnettechnik + Elektronik GmbH. The legal basis for the processing is Art.6 para.1 p.1 lit.c in conjunction with the Whistleblower Protection Act.

We process your personal data in connection with your report only to the extent necessary to determine the facts, evaluate, plan and implement any follow-up measures and for related communication with you. It may be necessary to outsource data processing to third parties (if necessary, on the basis of a commission agreement under data protection law).

Your identity will be kept confidential in accordance with the requirements of the Whistleblower Protection Act. This includes keeping the group of data recipients as small as possible, processing that is as anonymous as possible, and the strict necessity principle. We also treat the personal data of the person affected by a report as confidential. Depending on the facts of the case, selective transmission of personal data to authorities or courts in particular may be necessary. 

The deletion of the case documentation takes place three years after completion of the process, unless a longer storage is required proportionately (§11 Abs.5 HinSchG).

Further notes, legal text

In addition to the internal reporting office, you also have the option of submitting your report to so-called external reporting offices, in particular the Federal Office of Justice, BaFin or the Federal Cartel Office. According to the guiding principle of the law, however, reports should primarily be made to the internal reporting office (§7 para.3 HinSchG); HAWE also welcomes the route via the internal reporting office with its shorter distances and better proximity to the facts. Should you feel compelled to make a disclosure to the public, you will only enjoy the protection of the HinSchG if you have previously reported unsuccessfully to an external reporting office, i.e. if you have not received timely or sufficient feedback on the fate of your report or if no follow-up measures have been taken, or if special impediments exist (§32 HinSchG).

For further details, please refer to the legal text (German).