Whistleblower Protection Law

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).