WHISTLEBLOWING
by SICOR ITALY
Legislative Decree 24/2023, implementing EU Directive 2019/1937, introduced unified regulation of reporting channels and protections afforded to whistleblowers in the public and private sectors. With the term Whistleblowing the activity of reporting misconduct found within the work environment is indicated.
What can be reported
Through the appropriate procedure, any act, behavior or omission in violation of national or European standards that harms the public interest or integrity of the public administration or private entity or any act or omission aimed at concealing such violations can be reported.
In this regard, it is pointed out that they fall under.
– In violations of national regulatory provisions: Criminal, civil, administrative or accounting offenses related to the predicate offenses for the application of Leg. 231/01, as well as violations of the Organization, Management and Control Model that are not attributable to violations of EU law as defined below;
– In violations of European regulations:
- offenses committed in violation of the EU legislation listed in Annex 1 to the Decree and all national provisions implementing it (these are offenses related to the following areas: public contracts, services, products and financial markets and prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism; product safety and compliance; transport safety; environmental protection; radiation protection and nuclear safety; food and feed safety and animal health and welfare; public health; consumer protection; privacy and personal data protection and security of networks and information systems);
- acts or omissions affecting the financial interests of the European Union (Art. 325 TFEU fight against fraud and illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the EU) as identified in EU regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions;
- acts or omissions concerning the internal market, which impair the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital (Art. 26(2) TFEU);
- Acts or conduct that frustrate the object or purpose of the provisions of the European Union in the areas indicated in the preceding paragraphs.
It is important that the report be adequately substantiated and detailed so as to bring out precise circumstances and facts. In particular, the following must result: a clear description of the fact with an indication of the time and place of its occurrence, the generalities or other elements that enable the identification of the person(s) to whom the reported facts are attributed, the identification of persons informed about the facts, an indication of possible sources of evidence, and the manner through which the fact was learned. Anonymous reports will still be captured if they contain substantiated facts, but the relevant reporters will not be able to receive the notice of intake and notification of the relevant outcome of the investigation.
What cannot be reported
They do not fall into the above categories, and therefore are excluded from the scope of reporting ex D.lgs. 24/2023, disputes related to an interest of a personal nature of the reporter, which pertain to his or her individual labor relations, or inherent in labor relations with hierarchically superordinate figures (e.g., labor disputes, discrimination, interpersonal conflicts between colleagues, data reports made in the context of the individual labor relationship in the absence of an injury to the public interest or the integrity of the private entity or public administration). Also excluded from the scope of reporting are. ex D.lgs. 24/2023 reports that are patently unfounded, information that is already in the public domain, and information acquired on the basis of unreliable rumors.
Therefore, any reports related to a personal interest of the reporter are not considered reports whistleblowing, and will be archived ex D.lgs. 24/2023. These may be treated as ordinary reports where provided for by the relevant internal bodies of the Company (such as for gender equality reports).
Who can report
Whistleblowers are those who are eligible to send reports and specifically are:
- employees, ex employees and job applicants;
- members;
- customers, suppliers, consultants, collaborators in the performance of their work.
What are Sicor S.r.l.’s internal reporting channels and how to access them
Three reporting channels have been identified:
- direct communication which provides the possibility of exposing the report in verbal or written form directly to the Supervisory Board by requesting an appointment directly to the SB by writing to the email odv@sicoritaly.com or by writing the subject line of the report to the above email;
- communication online which allows the whistleblower to submit their report by filling out the online form published in the section Whistleblowing Of the Society’s website;
- La paper noticea which provides for the possibility of sending the report via postal service (Caproni Avenue no. 32, cap 38068, Rovereto (TN)) or brevi manu In the mailbox and/or report box addressed to the OdV. In the latter case, to ensure confidentiality, the report should be placed in a sealed envelope that bears on the outside the words “reserved/to OdV”.
With reference to reporting channels 2 and 3, it is also possible to proceed anonymously.
Who receives reports and feedback to non-anonymous reporters
Reports are received by Sicor S.r.l.’s Supervisory Board, which draws on the support of the HR function for investigative insights.
OdV will give feedback to the whistleblower non-anonymous:
– Of taking charge of the report within 7 days of receipt of the report with acknowledgement by email;
– Of the outcome of the investigation carried out within 90 days from the date of sending the acknowledgement of receipt with email communication.
The protections of the whistleblower
Sicor ensures the confidentiality of the reporter’s identity. The Company is prohibited from applying retaliatory or discriminatory measures against the whistleblower because of the report. In particular, Sicor is prohibited from sanctioning the whistleblower or demoting, firing, transferring, or subjecting the whistleblower to any other organizational measure that adversely affects working conditions.
Retaliatory acts taken in violation of this prohibition are null and void. The same protection also applies to facilitators and others assimilated with the reporter (such as the reporter’s co-workers, people in the same work environment as the reporter, etc.).
Privacy
The personal data of the whistleblower, the reported person, and all persons involved in the report are processed in accordance with the current legislation on the protection of personal data under Reg. Eu. N. 679/2016 and referred to D.lgs. 196/2003, as modified by the D.lgs. 101/2018.
Fairness Authority Whistleblowing systems and external reporting channel
Anac (National Anticorruption Authority) can be activated if the internal channel is not active or non-compliant, if the reporter has made an internal report in the mode non-anonymous and has not received acknowledgement of receipt within 7 days of the report and/or has not received feedback on the action taken on the report within 90 days of receipt of the acknowledgement of receipt, or has reasonable grounds to believe (based on factual circumstances and information actually obtainable) that if it made an internal report it would not be effectively followed up or could result in retaliation or that the violation may pose an imminent or obvious danger to the public interest.
Anac provides an IT platform accessible from the institutional website, through which you can notify Anac of any retaliation you believe you have suffered as a result of your report. Guidelines on procedures for the submission and handling of external reports are available on the website from ANAC.
N.B.: The ANAC has provided penalties of €500.00 to €2,500.00 for whistleblowers if the whistleblower is found to be criminally liable for the crimes of defamation and slander.