Legally compliant in the Whistleblower Protection Act

The internal reporting office should also process incoming reports that are anonymous. However, there is no obligation to design the reporting channels in such a way that they allow anonymous reports to be submitted.

The reporting body must be easily accessible for employees and offer various communication channels to enable whistleblowers to report grievances. This can be ensured, for example, through a telephone hotline, e-mail or a web form.

In order to ensure that incoming reports are treated objectively and neutrally, external third parties in the form of an ombudsperson can also be commissioned to process the reports.

The hotline should systematically document reports and establish an appropriate reporting mechanism to ensure that reported grievances are properly investigated and appropriate action is taken.

Whistleblowers should be protected from repercussions or negative consequences if they report a whistleblowing incident. This can be achieved, for example, through clear guidelines and procedures for investigating reported abuses as well as appropriate protective measures for whistleblowers.

Whistleblower Protection Act & Data Protection

All personal data, both that of the reporting person and of any accused persons, must therefore be processed in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the German Federal Data Protection Act. You should particularly ensure that:

the retention and deletion periods are observed,
a commissioned data processing agreement has been concluded for the commissioning of external ombudspersons,
the data protection declarations for referring persons are available and
the data processing is carried out by technically appropriate systems.

Whistleblower Protection Act & Works Council

Do you need the approval of your works council when setting up a whistleblowing system in your company?
In general, the consent of the works council depends on national legislation and the individual circumstances in your company. In some countries, setting up a whistleblowing system may be considered a change in working conditions that requires the consent of the works council. In other countries, the works council may only have a right to information and consultation.

Numerous laws - A legally compliant solution!

In addition to the Whistleblower Protection Act, there are other regulations and recommendations from other sources, some of which are statutory, that require companies to set up an internal reporting office:

The Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains
The Stock Cooperation Act
Insurance Supervision Act
Federal Financial Supervisory Authority
The German Corporate Governance Codex

The objectives of these laws and regulations are identical: to create the possibility of reporting information on possible legal violations to an independent body. Request your non-binding offer for the implementation of the whistleblowing channel via Eticor now and implement the requirements of the above-mentioned laws and regulations in a legally compliant manner.