Whistleblowing

What is whistleblowing?

Under Act No. 171/2023 Coll., on the protection of whistleblowers (hereinafter the „Whistleblower Protection Act“), the term whistleblowing refers to the process of disclosing wrongdoing by submitting a report, that is by providing information to persons who can investigate the reported facts and, where appropriate, intervene and adopt remedial or preventive measures. When the situation is investigated, emphasis is placed on absolute protection of the whistleblower's identity. It is therefore a tool that leads to the prevention and detection of unlawful procedures and of improper or unlawful conduct.

Glossary of terms

Wrongdoing - Unlawful conduct bearing the characteristics of a criminal offence, or of an administrative offence with an upper fine limit of at least CZK 100,000; conduct that breaches the Whistleblower Protection Act; or conduct that breaches another legal regulation or EU legislation in the areas defined by the Whistleblower Protection Act. Where these conditions are met, this may be, for example, corruption, endangering health, safety or the environment, and also abuse of powers and activities serving to conceal the conduct described above.

Whistleblower - A natural person who gives notice of or reports wrongdoing of which they became aware in connection with work performed or a similar activity. Typically these are current and former employees, persons working under agreements outside an employment relationship, cooperating self-employed persons and their employees, or members of the bodies of business corporations.

Designated person  - The person responsible for the whole course of the investigation, who will deal with the reports submitted, investigate them and give feedback to the extent set out in the Whistleblower Protection Act or in this directive, including to the whistleblower and to the persons deciding on any remedial measures. This person is duly instructed and maintains strict confidentiality.

Submitting a report 

As an obliged entity under Act No. 171/2023 Coll., on the protection of whistleblowers, we operate an internal reporting system. Information on submitting reports is available HERE.

For submitting notices or reports within DHL Group, whistleblowers can use the DHL Group Incident Reporting system (BKMS).
 

Procedure for investigating a report 

All reports will be assessed by the designated person objectively, confidentially, impartially and thoroughly. Unless this directive, the Whistleblower Protection Act or another act provides otherwise, the designated person is obliged to maintain confidentiality about the facts they learn in the course of this activity.

Other persons who gain access to a report or parts of it, even without authorisation, are obliged not to provide information that could frustrate or jeopardise the purpose of submitting reports.
The designated person will notify the whistleblower that the report has been received and will instruct them in accordance with the provisions of point 5.1. of this directive.

In the case of an oral report (by telephone or in person), the designated person will make an audio recording of it (where technically possible) and, where appropriate, a transcript of the recording. When making a transcript of the recording, they will allow the whistleblower to comment on the transcript and will attach the whistleblower's comments. If the whistleblower does not consent to an audio recording or a transcript being made, the designated person must not make one. In such a case, or if an audio recording is not made for another reason, they will draw up a record faithfully capturing the substance of the oral report and will allow the whistleblower to comment on the record; the whistleblower's comments will be attached to the record.

The designated person is obliged to examine the report and to inform the whistleblower in writing of the outcome of the examination no later than 30 calendar days from its receipt (unless the whistleblower has asked not to be notified, or unless notification would reveal the whistleblower's identity). In cases that are particularly complex in law or in fact, the time limit may be extended by a further 30 calendar days, but no more than twice. The whistleblower must be informed of any extension of the time limit before it is extended. The designated person will duly give reasons for the outcome of the examination.
If the matter is not a report within the meaning of this directive, the designated person will notify the whistleblower of this fact in writing without undue delay and will recommend how to proceed with the report (for example whom to approach with the reported facts).

Where the designated person assesses a report as incomplete, they will contact the whistleblower with a request to supply the information needed for a proper investigation.

If the report is directed against a specific employee, that person must be made aware of the content of the report without undue delay and must be given the opportunity to comment on the matter, as well as to submit documents, papers and other information relating to the matter under consideration.
As stated above, when a report is investigated, emphasis is placed on protecting the whistleblower's identity and on protecting personal data in accordance with the relevant legislation. If the whistleblower's identity could be inferred from the content of the report, the employee against whom the report is directed will not be made aware of the content of the report or of other information leading to disclosure of the whistleblower's identity, unless the whistleblower consents to that disclosure. The same procedure applies to other persons.

If the designated person is obliged to provide identity details to the relevant public authorities under legislation, they are first obliged to notify the whistleblower of this in advance, to state the reasons why this is happening, and to allow the whistleblower to comment on the provision of the information.

Assessment of the investigation

If the report is assessed as well founded, the designated person will propose to the executive directors, that is the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer and the operations director, that a specific remedial measure be adopted with the aim of preventing or removing the unlawful situation the whistleblower drew attention to.  The nature of the specific remedial measures is then decided by the company's executive directors on the basis of the designated person's recommendation. Once they have decided which specific remedial measure will be adopted, the executive directors will notify the designated person. The designated person will notify the whistleblower of the adoption of remedial measures without undue delay. The designated person will not notify the whistleblower of the adoption of remedial measures if the whistleblower has expressly asked not to be notified of them, or if doing so would reveal the whistleblower's identity. 

If the designated person assesses the report as unfounded, they will without undue delay notify the whistleblower in writing that they have found no suspicion of unlawful conduct, or that they have found the report to be based on untrue information, and will instruct the whistleblower about the right to submit a report to a public authority. They will duly give reasons for this notification.

Protection of the whistleblower

It is excluded that a whistleblower should be penalised in any way in connection with a report submitted. Such conduct would be regarded as a so-called retaliatory measure, which is strictly prohibited and will not be tolerated. The protection applies not only to the whistleblower but also to a wider group of persons defined by the Whistleblower Protection Act, such as persons close to the whistleblower. 

A person who knowingly submits a false report will not be protected against retaliatory measures. Submitting a knowingly false report, like any other misuse of the reporting channel, will on the contrary be regarded as a breach of an employee's duty, for which the employee may face sanctions.