Whistleblower Protection Act

Following the transposition of the European Whistleblower Protection Directive into national law, companies above a certain size are obliged to implement a whistleblower channel. DAS STUDIO Torsten Hegner GmbH is also affected by this obligation and you are given the opportunity below to draw attention to any breaches of the law within our organisation and report them via our whistleblower channel.

General information on the Whistleblower Protection Act:

The Whistleblower Protection Act protects whistleblowers who report offences punishable by criminal penalties or fines as well as all other violations of the law. In terms of content, these can be any offences against

  • Criminal offences (e.g. embezzlement or threats, etc.)
  • Administrative offences against the protection of life, limb or health of employees or their bodies
  • Federal and state legislation to implement directly applicable EU legal acts in a variety of different areas, such as Regulations to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, product safety regulations, road safety regulations, regulations on the transport of dangerous goods, etc.

Other complaints, claims, indications of disadvantages or suggestions for improvement are not subject to these regulations as long as they do not violate the law.

We implement the internal reporting centre via an external partner:

ENSECUR GmbH
Meldestelle HinSchG

-Mr. Julian Häcker-
Kaiserstraße 86
76133 Karlsruhe
Tel: 0721 / 180 356 79
E-Mail: hinweisgeber1@ensecur.de

Tasks of the Reporting Office:

  • The Reporting Office accepts reports of legal violations via the communication channels.
  • The reporting office records the reports and informs the management. The management decides how the report is to be processed or checked and who is involved. All those involved in the checks are obliged to maintain absolute discretion and confidentiality.

The retention and deletion of messages is defined:

  • Immediate deletion of information that is not required for an investigation or prosecution/defence of legal claims.
  • Deletion after two months after completion of the investigation or prosecution/defence of legal claims of information required for the investigation or prosecution/defence of legal claims.
  • Deletion after expiry of the statutory retention period of 3 years for information that is subject to such a retention period. Longer storage is possible if it is necessary and proportionate to fulfil the Whistleblower Protection Act or other laws.

In addition to the internal reporting centre mentioned above, it is also possible to report a violation to an external reporting centre. The legislator has expressly stated that whistleblowers should favour internal reporting offices if the employer can take effective action against the violation and there is no fear of reprisals. If an offence is not investigated, whistleblowers can, for example, contact the reporting office at the Federal Office of Justice. https://www.bundesjustizamt.de/DE/MeldestelledesBundes/ZustaendigkeitderMeldestellen/ZustaendigkeitderMeldestellen_node.html