Information
Help uncover illegal activities like fraud and corruption!
As an international company, ZKW is committed to acting responsibly and lawfully. These values are part of our self-concept as an enterprise. We accept this responsibility both as a company and as part of our society, and we feel it is key to securing our long-term economic success.
Inappropriate behavior, even if only engaged in by a few individuals, can severely damage the trust and respect we enjoy from our customers, employees, business partners, and from society at large. We all bear responsibility for our company’s reputation.
If you as a business partner or ZKW employee have a well-founded suspicion of unacceptable behavior that violates the law or the ZKW corporate guidelines (such as the “Code of Conduct or similar requirements), we actively encourage you to report such issues through our whistleblower portal either anonymously or by providing your name.
We will maintain your anonymity. The Whistleblowing Platform is designed with a variety of technical measures (such as: not saving log files, meta data, personal data, etc.) so that it is never possible to identify the individual submitting the tip. Whether you submit a tip anonymously or by providing your name, the set-up is always the same.
When you submit a tip, you will have the opportunity to save the suggested log-in details. Doing so will give the whistleblower the opportunity to request the status of their tip in the system, and to transmit further information regarding a protected conversation if desired. Secondly, this allows the responsible compliance officer to ask the whistleblower questions about the specific matter, in order to take further appropriate steps to clarify the issue.
Questions
Why should I submit a tip?
Uncovering fraudulent, deceitful behavior that harms ZKW takes attentive individuals both within and associated with ZKW. As one of these individuals, you can make a key contribution to stopping undesirable and illegal behavior reliably, permanently, and as soon as possible. By doing so, you contribute to a successful, viable enterprise.
What kinds of tips are helpful?
All serious tips that provide information on a violation of applicable legal regulations or of internal specifications and guidelines (such as: the Code of Conduct, etc.) are helpful. You must be able to credibly describe a reasonable suspicion that a violation has occurred.
How does the reporting process work?
To submit an anonymous or non-anonymous tip, please click the “Enter message” button. You will be directed to a page run by our external provider. Please select “New Case”. The reporting process includes some essential and mandatory information, such as a subject, location, description of the incident and date. If you do not want to remain anonymous, at the end of the report you can deselect to remain anonymous and then enter your data.
You may save the caseID and password which appears after you enter your tip on the screen. This allows you to track the status of your submitted tip and answer any follow-up questions via the conversation box or ask questions to the processor – even after you have already submitted your tip. Your anonymity is always ensured via the system. As long as you do not enter any data that could be linked to your identity, you are protected by the technology used in the AKARION Whistleblowing System. The contents of the tip and its quality are most relevant and of greatest interest to ZKW – not the identity of the whistleblower.
If you want to remain anonymous, do not disclose data that could be used to personally identify you. You will not be required to enter personal information at any point.
How can I get in touch with the processor? Will I receive anonymous feedback?
You can save the data that appears after you enter your tip (caseID and password). Write down / copy both of these to access the tip again later after it is submitted. To access the tip, please visit the “Enter message” link again. From there, you will be forwarded once again to the external provider, where you can select “Open case” and log in with your access details.
You can check the status of your tip at any time using these access details. In addition, responsible processors can ask questions about a tip if there is anything unclear about the matter at hand, or if further information is required. You will remain anonymous at all times during any relevant communication.
How does ZKW handle my tip?
The tip will be reviewed and processed initially by responsible Compliance officers within ZKW. If a department should be involved in processing the tip, the content will be communicated with that department for further processing.
Personnel accused of illegal activities through a tip may have the opportunity to provide a statement on the allegations that have been made.
If the matter is reviewed and investigated, both internal and external investigators may carry out the investigation. In exceptional cases, information from the tip may be disclosed to official authorities.
The conversation box is used to provide feedback on how the tip will be handled. According to data protection law, it is not possible to communicate the results of these investigations.
What can I do if I have been the victim of retaliation?
If you have a legitimate suspicion that you have suffered retaliation due to a tip that you have submitted, you can submit another tip. Any unsubstantiated or even false tips, however, could have serious consequences for the whistleblower.