WHISTLEBLOWING
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WHISTLEBLOWING PROCEDURE
Updated to: 23.10.2023 |
PO RU 01 Annex XX rev. 0 page < 1 > of 4 |
1. PURPOSE....................................................................................................................................... 2
2. SCOPE ........................................................................................................................................... 2
3. SUBJECT MATTER OF THE REPORT ............................................................................................. 2
4. EXECUTION................................................................................................................................... 3
5. CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROHIBITION OF EXTORTION............................................................... 4
6. VERIFICATION OF REPORT'S VALIDITY........................................................................................ 5
7. PERSONAL DATA PROCESSING.................................................................................................... 5
The purpose of this document is to establish the procedures for the reporting of unlawful conduct, whether as action committed or as action omitted, that amounts to or that may amount to a breach, or inducement to breach, of
- laws and regulations, values and principles enshrined in the internal Code of Ethics (if present).
- principles of internal control, corporate procedure and standards, that may cause, damage of any kind (e.g. economic, environmental, workers' or third parties' safety or even just image) to the these, as well as to customers, shareholders, partners, third parties and, more generally, to the community (hereinafter referred to as 'Reporting').
The aim is to provide whistleblowers with clear operational indications on the subject, content, recipients and means of transmission of reports of wrongdoing or anomalies, as well as information on the forms of protection offered to them by our system.
The addressees of this Procedure (hereinafter referred to as 'Addressees' and/or 'Reporting Parties') are:
- members of corporate bodies, employees of the company;
- customers, suppliers, partners, consultants, shareholders and, more generally, stakeholders (hereinafter 'Third Parties').
- SUBJECT MATTER OF THE REPORT
There is no exhaustive list of offences or irregularities that may constitute the subject of whistleblowing. Reports that concern anomalies, irregularities or offences committed both in the interest of and to the detriment of the entity are considered relevant.
Reported misconduct must relate to situations of which the person has become directly aware, even by chance.
On the other hand, reports based on mere suspicions or rumours are not worthy of protection: this is because it is necessary both to take into account the interest of the third parties subject to the information reported and to avoid the company from have to carry out unhelpful and in any case costly internal inspections.
With this in mind, reports should be as circumstantial as possible and provide as much information as possible so as to enable the body in charge of handling them to carry out the necessary checks.
Reports of a personal nature are outside the scope of whistleblowing.
“Reporting" means the communication of possible unlawful conduct, whether committed or omitted, that amounts to or may amount to an infringement, or an inducement to infringement of laws and/or regulations, values and/or principles enshrined in the company's Code of Ethics (if present) and internal control principles, as well as in the company's Procedures and/or rules.
The whistleblower must provide all useful elements to enable the body in charge of handling the reports to carry out the due and appropriate internal checks to verify and to ascertain whether the reported facts are well-founded.
To this end, the report should preferably contain the following:
- details of the reporting party;
- a clear and complete description of the facts being reported;
- if known, the circumstances of time and place in which they were committed;
- if known, generalities or other elements (such as job title and the service in which the activity is carried out)
which would make it possible to identify the person(s) who perpetrated the reported facts;
- an indication of any other persons who may report on the facts being reported;
- an indication of any documents/other evidence that may confirm the validity of
such facts;
- any other information that may provide useful feedback on the existence of the reported facts.
Anonymous reports, i.e. those without any elements enabling their reporter to be identified, even if delivered by the means described herein, will not be taken into account within the framework of the procedures aimed at protecting the employee who reports offences, but will only be considered for further investigation if they relate to particularly serious facts and if their content is adequately detailed and circumstantiated.
The Report, even if anonymous, must be documented and circumstantiated, so as to provide the useful and appropriate elements to allow an appropriate verification activity on the merits of the reported facts.
Addressees who detect or otherwise become aware of possible unlawful conduct or irregularities committed, in the performance of their work or having an impact on thir work, by persons who have relations with the company, are required to put into effect this Procedure by promptly reporting the facts, events and circumstances that they believe, in good faith and on the basis of reasonable evidence, to have led to such infringements and/or conduct not in line with the principles of the company.
Reports may also be made anonymously through the portal on the website. However, the company recommends that they should be nominative, in order to allow the persons in charge a to more efficiently investigate, applying in any case the safeguards provided for.
The person in charge of receiving and examining the Report is the Whistleblowing Officer.
The Report must be sent to the:
- portal on the company website in the LEGAL AREA - Whistleblowing section
The Whistleblowing Officer will send a notice of acknowledgement of the Report made within 7 days and will acknowledge it within 3 months, if the sender can be traced.
It is understood that when verifying the validity of the Report received, whoever made it may be contacted to request any further information that may be necessary.
The work of verifying the merits of the circumstances represented in the Whistleblowing Report are the responsibility, and without prejudice to any specific local laws on the subject, of the Whistleblowing Manager, who is entrusted with a timely and accurate investigation, in compliance with the principles of impartiality, fairness and confidentiality towards all the persons involved.
In the course of the verifications, the Whistleblowing Manager may avail himself/herself of the support of the competent corporate functions from time to time and, where deemed appropriate, of external consultants specialised in the field of the Report received and whose involvement is functional to the investigation of the Report, ensuring the confidentiality and - where possible - the anonymisation of any personal data contained in the Report.
At the end of the verification phase, the Whistleblowing Manager prepares a report summarising the investigations carried out and the evidence that emerged and shares it, on the basis of the results, with the relevant corporate functions, in order to define any intervention plans to be implemented and the actions to be taken to protect the company.
Otherwise, should the conclusion of the analysis reveal the absence of sufficiently circumstantiated elements or, in any case, the groundlessness of the facts referred to in the Report, the latter shall be filed, together with the relevant reasons, by the Whistleblowing Officer.
The Whistleblowing Officer reports periodically on the types of reports received and the outcome of the investigation activities to the legal representatives.
- CONFIDENTIALITY AND PROTECTION AGAINST EXTORTION
In encouraging the Addressees to promptly report possible unlawful conduct or irregularities, the Company guarantees the confidentiality of the Report and of the data contained therein, as well as the anonymity of the Reporting Party or of whoever has sent it, even in the event that it should subsequently prove to be erroneous or unfounded.
Any kind of threat, retaliation, sanction or discrimination against the Whistleblower and the person reported, or against anyone who has cooperated in the investigation of the merits of the Report, will not be tolerated.
The company reserves the right to take appropriate action against anyone who takes, or threatens to take, retaliatory action against those who have reported in accordance with this Procedure, without prejudice to the right of the persons concerned to seek legal protection in the event that criminal or civil liability is found against the reporting person for the falsehood of what has been declared or reported.
It is understood that the company may take appropriate disciplinary and/or legal measures to protect its rights, assets and image, against anyone who, in bad faith, has made false, unfounded or opportunistic Reports and/or with the sole purpose of slandering, defaming or causing prejudice to the reported person or other persons mentioned in the Report.
With the exception of cases in which criminal liability may be incurred on the grounds of slander and defamation under Articles 368 and 595 of the Criminal Code or civil liability under Article 2043 of the Civil Code, and cases in which anonymity is not enforceable by law (e.g. in the case of criminal investigations), the identity of the whistleblower is protected in any context subsequent to the report.
Therefore, subject to the exceptions mentioned above, the identity of the whistleblower may not be disclosed without his or her express consent, and all those receiving or involved in the handling of the report are obliged to protect the confidentiality of that information.
Breach of the duty of confidentiality is a matter of disciplinary liability, without prejudice to other forms of liability provided for by law.
As regards, in particular, the scope of disciplinary proceedings, the identity of the whistleblower may only be disclosed to the disciplinary authority and the accused in cases where
- there is the express consent of the reporter;
- the accusation of the disciplinary charge is based, in whole or in part, on the report and knowledge of the identity of the whistleblower is absolutely indispensable for the accused's defence, provided that the latter invokes and proves this circumstance at the hearing or by submitting documents produced for the purpose of defence.
The Company hereby indicates that the personal data (including any sensitive data, such as racial and ethnic origin, religious and philosophical beliefs, political opinions, membership of political parties, trade unions, as well as personal data disclosing health and sexual orientation) of the Reporting Parties and of any other subjects acquired in connection with the management of the Reports, shall be processed in full compliance with the provisions of the laws in force on the protection of personal data and, in any case, in line with the provisions of GDPR 679/2016 and limited to those strictly necessary to verify the merits of the Report and for the management thereof.
The complete privacy policy is viewable on the website.
