The purpose of this whistleblowing policy is to enable both employees and other interested parties to report breaches (in a work-related context) of Belgian law.

This without having to fear retaliation and to ensure an appropriate investigation process.

Taveirne NV is setting up an internal reporting channel for this purpose. Anyone wishing to make a report within the scope of the Whistleblower Act will initially use the internal reporting channel for this purpose.

This policy does not cover complaints about your employment. For this, we refer you to the HR department.

Before making a report under this whistleblower policy, we ask you to first use the normal reporting channels and to discuss this with your superior beforehand, insofar as he or she is not involved in the case in question.

 

 

In these regulations, we mean by:

Infringement: acts or omissions that:

• are unlawful and relate to Union acts and policies within the material scope referred to in Article 3, or
• undermine the purpose or application of the rules in the Union act and policy areas falling within the material scope referred to in Article 3.

Information about breaches: information, including reasonable suspicions, about actual or potential breaches, which have taken place or are very likely to take place within Taveirne NV where the reporter works or has worked or with which the reporter has been in contact by virtue of his work, as well as about attempts to conceal such breaches.

Reporting: the oral or written provision of information about breaches.

Internal report: the oral or written communication of information about breaches within Taveirne NV.

External reporting: the oral or written communication of information about breaches to the competent authorities.

Disclosure: the oral or written public communication of information about breaches.

Reporter: a natural person who reports information about breaches (internal, external or public) obtained in the context of his work-related activities.

Data subject: a natural or legal person named in the report (internal, external or public) or disclosure as a person to whom breaches are attributed or with whom that person is associated.

Facilitator: a natural person who assists a reporter in the reporting process in a work-related context and whose assistance must be confidential.

Retaliation: a direct or indirect act or omission that occurs in a work-related context as a result of an internal or external report or disclosure, and which results or may result in unjustified harm to the reporter (or to facilitators or third parties associated with the reporter).

Follow-up: action by the recipient of a report or a competent authority to verify the accuracy of the allegations made in the report and address the reported breach if necessary.

Feedback: providing the reporter with information on the action planned or taken as a follow-up and on the reasons for that follow-up.

Competent authority: the Belgian authority designated to receive reports in accordance with Article 5 of this policy and to provide feedback to reporters and ensure follow-up.

Work-related context: the current or former employment activities in the private sector through which, regardless of the nature of those activities, individuals may obtain information about violations and where those individuals may face reprisals if they were to report such information.

Federal coordinator: the authority responsible for coordinating external reporting for the private sector in accordance with Section 4 Chapter 4 of the Whistleblowing Act.

Reporting manager: the impartial person or service authorised to follow up on the reports, maintain communication with the reporter, may request additional information from him if necessary, provide him with feedback and receive reports where applicable.

 

 
The internal reporting channel can be accessed 24/7 by:

• employees
• anyone who, in a work-related context, becomes aware of breaches of European Union law and/or breaches that the Belgian Legislator has added or will add to the scope of application of the Belgian Whistleblower Regulation.
• others: (e.g. customers, ….)

“Work-related context” means that in addition to (former) employees, trainees, suppliers, self-employed persons, shareholders, job applicants and so on who cooperate with Taveirne NV in a sustainable way can also make a report.

Specifically, a reporter can report breaches or matters that he believes in good faith to be breaches in any of the following areas:

• public procurement;
• financial services, products and markets, prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing;
• product safety and product conformity;
• transport safety;
• protection of the environment;
• radiation protection and nuclear safety
• food and feed safety, animal health and animal welfare;
• public health;
• consumer protection;
• protection of privacy and personal data, and security of network and information systems;
• offences against the financial interests of the European Union;
• internal market infringements (competition and state aid; corporate tax infringements; constructions aimed at unfairly obtaining a tax advantage.
• combating tax fraud
• combating social fraud

 

 
4.1 Reporting channel and access
 
A person who observes a breach or has reasonable suspicions that a breach has been or will be committed in breach of one or more of the areas mentioned in article 3, and in which Taveirne NV is involved, can always report this through the most appropriate and accessible channel.

The reporter can make his report via the e-mail address klokkenluider@taveirne.be using the form ‘internal whistleblower report‘, attached as an appendix to this policy. This form can also be found on our website.

Reporters may also request to report a breach via a physical meeting within a reasonable period of time.

Such a physical report can also be made by appointment with the prevention service/confidential counsellor at +32 (0)50 22 07 49.
 
4.2 Anonymous reports
 
There is a possibility to report anonymously. If you do not wish to reveal your identity, you should indicate the way in which the reporting manager can contact you for feedback or you should contact the reporting manager again yourself.
 
4.3 Treatment of the report
 

• The notifications received are registered and within 7 calendar days of the notification, the notifier receives a receipt.
• The reports are managed internally, they are examined, checked, stored and handled by an independent person (reporting manager), who will maintain communication with the whistleblower.
• Here, the independent party within Taveirne NV is the prevention service/trustee.
• At the latest after 3 months, the reporter will receive feedback on the results of the investigation conducted as a result of the report, provided that this report falls within the legal framework of the whistleblower regulation.

 

 
5.1 External reporting channels
 
The reporter who does not wish to make an internal report can also use an external reporting channel.

External reports are made to the Federal Ombudsman.

• By telephone: +32 (0)80 099 961
• Report by e-mail via integriteit@federaalombudsman.be
• Reporting via the website of the competent authority: https://www.federaalombudsman.be/nl/centrum-integriteit/klokkenluiders

The reporter can also request to report a breach via a physical meeting within a reasonable period of time.

Such a physical report can be made by appointment with the Federal Ombudsman.
 

 
A public disclosure is allowed only if:

• Internal and external reports remain untreated and no appropriate action is taken.
• The reporter has reasonable grounds to believe that the breach poses an imminent or real danger to the public interest.
• Risk of retaliation in case of external reporting / unlikely to effectively remedy the breach due to special circumstances of the case.

 

 
Taveirne NV ensures that the information on the report is kept in such a way that it is physically and digitally accessible only to those designated by Taveirne NV as authorised persons. All reports and subsequent investigation reports and/or determination reports, decisions …, are treated with the utmost confidentiality.

Taveirne NV maintains a strict ‘need to know’ basis for disclosing relevant information to employees or third parties. All employees involved in receiving reports, or following up reports, will maintain strict confidentiality about the content of reports, reports, decisions … and this to the extent permitted by applicable law.

 

 
8.1 What protection?
 
The identity of the reporter remains strictly confidential and can only be disclosed to persons other than those authorised by law in a limited number of cases.

• When the reporter gives his/her free and express consent to do so
• On the basis of an obligation arising from legislation in the context of investigations by national authorities or judicial proceedings (among others to guarantee the rights of defence of the person concerned)

Taveirne NV guarantees that the reporter will be protected against reprisals. The reporter cannot be held liable for a report if it had reasonable grounds to believe that the report was necessary to disclose a breach.

In this situation, no professional sanction can be imposed as a result of such a report.

If the reporter still experiences retaliation, he or she may claim damages.
 
8.2 When is the reporter protected?
 
Only those reporters who meet the following conditions are covered by this protection

• Reasonable grounds to believe that the reported information is correct and in good faith.
• The report should be made through the proper channel: this means that the reporter uses the provided internal reporting channels as much as possible in the first instance.
  Only if there is no internal channel, or if an external report goes unheeded, can a report be made public.

 
8.3 Complaint procedure
 
Any reporter who believes he or she has been victimised or threatened with reprisal may submit a reasoned complaint to the federal coordinator of the competent authority, who initiates an out-of-court protection procedure.

The federal coordinator of the competent authority verifies the existence of reasonable suspicion of a reprisal.

The burden of proof that it is not retaliation falls on Taveirne NV.

If Taveirne NV takes a measure against a reporter that falls within the legal framework and it can be shown that the reasons for this measure are foreign to the report, this measure is not a reprisal.

 

 
Taveirne NV will only deal with those reports that were made in good faith and fall within the scope of the Whistleblower Act.

Employees who make a report in bad faith, with intent to harm, do not enjoy protection.

When making a report in bad faith, the employee concerned exposes himself in particular to the sanctions included in the labour regulations, including the ultimate measure of dismissal.

The legislator has also provided for sanctions against the reporter if it is found that he/she knowingly reported or disclosed false information or if he/she abused the reporting procedure.
 

 
Taveirne NV keeps a register of all reports, in which both the receipt of the report, its investigation and its resolution are monitored. Reports are kept in this register as long as the contractual relationship between the reporter and the employer runs. Investigation reports and supporting information are kept for at least five years after the end of the investigation.
 

 
All personal data shall be processed in accordance with applicable data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).

Personal data will only be processed for the purpose of carrying out required investigations pursuant to a legal obligation and only the strictly necessary data will be processed.

The data may be shared with public authorities if the report contains information that is required to be passed on by law or with other external parties involved in an investigation.

Taveirne NV retains all personal data at least as long as the contractual relationship between the reporter and the employer runs and at most during the limitation period relevant to any legal claims.

All data subjects have the right to request access, rectification, erasure and objection to the processing of their personal data.

These requests can be addressed to GDPR@taveirne.be.

All data subjects have the right to lodge complaints with the Data Protection Authority.

The data protection officer within Taveirne NV can be reached at GDPR@taveirne.be
 

 
The Federal Institute for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights is entrusted with implementing or monitoring support measures, whether in the case of an internal report, an external report or a disclosure.

The reporter has access to the following support measures, as appropriate:

• comprehensive and independent information and advice, easily accessible and free of charge, on the remedies and procedures available that provide protection against retaliation, as well as on the rights of the data subject, including his or her personal data protection rights; in addition, the reporter must be informed that he or she is eligible for the protection measures provided for in this law
• technical advice regarding any authority involved in the protection of the reporter;
• legal assistance in cross-border criminal and civil proceedings in accordance with Directive (EU) 2016/1919 and Directive 2008/52/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and legal assistance in other proceedings as well as legal advice or other legal assistance, in accordance with the provisions on second-line legal assistance and legal aid.
• support measures, including technical, psychological, media and social support, for the reporter;
• financial assistance to the reporter in the context of legal proceedings.