Trust a provider with legal expertise for your whistleblowing system
Your whistleblowing system from a provider with legal expertise
At SICODA,we don’t just carry IT security, compliance and data protection in our name; we also burn for their implementation. Recently, compliance management was expanded by the EU to include the protection of whistleblowers. As a result, we have upgraded our offer to include an absolutely secure and legally compliant whistleblowing system. As your provider with 18 years of legal experience, we are happy to support you with the introduction of an appropriate whistleblower platform within your company.
What is a whistleblowing system?
Whistleblowers, whether they are employees, suppliers or customers, reveal wrongdoings in companies. Through their courageous and valuable tips, they contribute to increasing transparency in companies and thus to uncovering white-collar crime. With their courageous comments, they also denounce ethically questionable practices, such as inhumane working conditions or child labor.
A whistleblowing system protects whistleblowers from reprisals. It allows whistleblowers to submit tips confidentially and anonymously if they wish, without fear of punishment or reprisals. For a long time, this was not the case.
What is the current legal situation regarding whistleblowing systems?
Meanwhile, the EU has acknowledged the importance of whistleblowers. For their safety, the EU Directive “on the protection of people who report violations of Union law”, in short the Whistleblower Directive, entered into force on December 16, 2019.
On December 21, 2021, the deadline for transferring the European directive into German law expired. However, the Grand Coalition was unable to agree on a text for the Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG) during its period of office.
However, even if currently there is no corresponding law in Germany, the EU directive is already valid in this country. According to the coalition agreement of the current governing coalition, the EU Whistleblower Directive will soon be adopted into national law.
Who needs a whistleblowing system?
The Whistleblower Protection Act obliges legal bodies in Germany to introduce a whistleblowing system by law. For the time being, this only affects organizations, such as companies and unincorporated associations with 250 or more employees. From December 1, 2023, onwards, the introduction of a whistleblower platform will also be mandatory for companies with 50 or more employees or annual sales of more than 10 million euros.
There is no employee or sales limit for financial service providers. For them, a whistleblower system is mandatory based on their service alone.
Municipalities with a population of 10,000 or more and public institutions must also provide an anonymous reporting system as of the end of 2023. Experts also advise municipalities with up to 10,000 inhabitants to introduce an appropriate whistleblowing system.
The whistleblowing system offered by a trusted provider
Our compliance whistleblowing system meets all whistleblower data protection, data and legal security requirements as well as your demand for a customized solution.
The advantages you have with the SICODA whistleblowing system
Data security
The protection of whistleblowers can only be guaranteed if the whistleblowing system behind it is 100% secure and therefore absolutely confidential. Neither the reading nor the tracing of hints can be permitted. As lawyers for IT security, compliance and data protection, the security of your data is part of our DNA.
Correspondingly, our whistleblowing system meets the highest standards in terms of security. This is ensured by:
- Encryption of all transmitted data with the most modern standard TLS 1.3
- Data is only stored in German high-security data centers with information security management according to ISO 27001
Compliance with current law
In Germany, a whistleblowing system has to fulfill all requirements of the Whistleblower Protection Act. As lawyers and providers of our own whistleblowing system, we guarantee the legal security of our electronic reporting system.
For example, our whistleblower platform also enables anonymous reports, which are essential in Germany. Of course, our documentation of hints also complies with the current legislation.
Compliance with the GDPR
In Germany, data protection, too, is regulated meticulously. To ensure that you fully comply with the GDPR even when dealing with the already sensitive topic of whistleblowing, our whistleblowing system meets all the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulationwith regard to the collection and further processing of data.
Securing accessibility
Our online portal is available 24 hours a day. A whistleblower is therefore not bound to the telephone hours of a hotline. In addition to that, no message can be lost, for example in the mail. Reporting a tip using our software is quick and easy. As a result, the willingness to provide clues increases.
Minimizing your effort
We take care of both, the installation and operation of your whistleblowing system. You can sit back and relax. As your trusted provider, we are happy to adapt our whistleblowing system to your individual needs:depending on the size and structure of your organization.
Ensuring low prices
The price for using our whistleblowing platform is just 50 euros per month. In return, you receive access to the entry forms we have created, which can be adjusted to your individual requirements. The number of tips that you can receive via our whistleblowing system is unlimited. The store for documenting the communication is also not limited.
Make our whistleblowing platform part of your corporate DNA
We offer more than just a whistleblowing system
As lawyers with a focus on compliance, we are also avaiable to you as a compliance ombudsman. Happily we obtain reports, that you receive via your whistleblowing system in compliance, with absolute confidentiality. After all, professional secrecy obliges us to exercise the utmost discretion. In personal contact with the whistleblower, we collect further valuable information for you. This is how we prevent possible damage to your company.
Furthermore, we can gladly extend our service for you by providing an external compliance officer. He develops an individual compliance policy for your company and trains your employees regarding its implementation. He assumes the role of a report centre for information that is handed in. On the one hand, he is the contact person for whistleblowers. On the other hand, he maintains direct contact with you and the employees involved. For him, the processing of a tip-off is only complete when the case has been fully resolved within your company.
Prices
whistleblowing portal
Open Source- whistleblowing portal
- open source platform
- one specialist
whistleblowing portal
professional- whistleblowing portal
- OTRIS basic
- one specialist
ombudsman
premium- whistleblowing portal
- OTRIS standard
- three specialists
- personal contact person (m/f)
- information reception by phone
- initial case assessment
compliance officer
full Service- whistleblowing portal
- OTRIS standard
- as many specialists as you like
- information reception by phone
- case processing
- compliance officer
- compliance policies
- compliance training
FAQ
Who enjoys whistleblower protection?
People who are economically dependent on the reported legal entity. Explicitly mentioned in the EU Directive 2019/1937 and the resulting Whistleblower Protection Act are:
- employees
- self-employed people
- trainees
- suppliers
- subcontractor
- shareholder
- boards
- supervisory boards
For employees, the protection already applies before the start of an employment relationship and beyond its termination. People who are either professionally or privately close to whistleblowersalso enjoy special protection.
Which channels can be used for reporting?
Reporting must be possible using various internal channels:
- in writing: via a digital whistleblowing system or by post
- by telephone: by calling a telephone hotline or by leaving a message on a special answering machine
- in person: in a face-to-face meeting
Regardless of the reporting channel, the identity of the whistleblower must be protected. In accordance with German law, it must also be possible to submit the report anonymously.
A report can also be made to the authority in charge. This applies in any case, but especially if internal reporting channels are missing or if a tip remains unanswered. However, an internal reporting system has the advantage that tips can be investigated in-house. In that way, damage to the company’s reputation, for example, can be avoided.
Which reporting channel is the best for receiving tips?
The best way to protect a whistleblower’s identity is with a digital whistleblowing system. Besides, the effort is particularly low: both for the implementation in the company and for the documentation of incoming messages.
What requirements does a company have to meet?
- It must possess a whistleblower reporting office.
- The person in charge of receiving and processing tips must be impartial.
- Tight deadlines for acknowledgement of receipt and feedback to the whistleblower must be met. The whistleblower must be informed of the result of the investigation within three months.
- The documentation of reports needs to be done in such a way that it can be used as evidence within the course of proceedings. Verbally reports must be written down and confirmed by the whistleblower.
- Whistleblowers must be offered access to an internal reporting channel on the company’s website. In addition to that, extensive information about the notification process must be provided there.
Is it possible to test the whistleblowing system of the provider SICODA without obligation and free of charge?
Yes. You can test our whistleblower system seven days risk-free. Within this trial period, you can cancel the contract by email without giving any reason.
