The notification procedure iSd. § 17 HinSchG

These tasks are always performed while maintaining the confidentiality of the identity of the reporting person. According to the legislator, the specifications for setting up and designing internal reporting channels are deliberately kept general. Nevertheless, some steps in the reporting process must be observed.

We will explain these to you in this article.

Acknowledgment of Receipt
After seven days, the internal reporting office must confirm receipt of the report to the reporting person.

Review of the Scope of Application
In the next step, the internal reporting office checks whether the reported violation falls within the material scope of the law. The scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act is broad and includes, among others:

Violations that fall under criminal law, such as theft, corruption, or sexual harassment
Offenses liable to fines, such as provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act or the Minimum Wage Act
Violations of labor law
Violations that fall under data protection
Violations against environmental regulations

Communication with the reporting person
The internal reporting office is obligated to maintain contact with the reporting person. This may also be necessary to possibly obtain further information on the submitted report.

Review of the validity
The internal reporting office checks the validity of the received report.

Subsequent Measures
The internal reporting office is obligated to take appropriate follow-up measures.
These particularly include:

Internal investigations in the company at the respective organizational unit
Contact affected persons and work units
Refer the reporting person to other responsible bodies
Termination of the procedure due to lack of evidence or for other reasons
Handing over the process for further investigations to a competent authority

Feedback to the reporting person
Three months after the acknowledgment of receipt or, if such was not sent, three months and seven days after receipt of the report, the reporting person must receive feedback. Of course, employers and organizational units are free to respond earlier.
The feedback includes notification of planned and already initiated follow-up measures and the reasons for these (see above). This means that the reporting person must also be informed about the status of their report if the hint is not further pursued or the procedure is concluded. This comprehensive feedback serves to strengthen trust in the effectiveness of the Whistleblower Protection Act as a whole. At the same time, the functioning of the internal reporting channel in particular is to be constantly improved.
However, it should be noted that this feedback may only be given to the extent that it does not affect internal investigations or inquiries and does not infringe on the rights of the persons who are the subject of a report or who are mentioned in the report.

There are various reasons for this:

The interest of the public and the affected authority in clarifying the facts
The interest of law enforcement and administrative authorities in pursuing the matter
Rights of the persons who are the subject of a report. These may be given priority over the information rights of the reporting persons in certain circumstances.
If a brief, even abbreviated, feedback is still possible, the duty to give feedback must be fulfilled to this extent.

Documentation Obligation
The reports must be documented. This documentation must then be deleted three years after the conclusion of the procedure. However, it is also possible to keep the documentation for a longer period in order to meet the requirements of the HinSchG or other legal provisions, as long as this is necessary and proportionate.

Information for Employees
The reporting offices are urged to provide clear and easily accessible information about their respective reporting procedures. In addition, as part of the Whistleblower Protection Act, the legislator appeals to employers to create incentives for employees to first use internal reporting procedures.
Employers can freely decide whether the reporting procedure should also be open to external persons who are in professional contact with the authority and observe a violation there.

Have you not yet set up an internal reporting office? Then we should talk!

As of: June 28, 2023