Whistleblowing guidelines
WHISTLEBLOWING GUIDELINES
1. Introduction – what is whistleblowing, and why is it important?
FUCOLI-SOMEPAL strives to achieve transparency and a high level of business ethics. Our whistleblowing service offers a possibility to alert the organisation about suspicions of misconduct in a confidential way. It is an important tool for reducing risks and maintaining trust in our operations by enabling us to detect and act on possible misconduct at an early stage. Whistleblowing can be done openly or anonymously, with the confidentiality of identities and data obtained through the report always being guaranteed.
2. When to blow the whistle?
The whistleblowing service can be used to alert us about serious risks of wrongdoing affecting people, our organisation, the society or the environment.
Reported issues include criminal offences, irregularities and violations or other actions in breach of EU or national laws within a work-related context, for example:
- Corruption and financial irregularities; for example, bribes, unfair competition, money laundering, fraud, conflict of interest
- Health and safety violations; for example, workplace health and safety, product safety, serious discrimination and harassments that are against the law
- Environmental violations; for example, illegal treatment of hazardous waste
- Privacy violations; for example, improper use of personal data
Employees are asked to contact their supervisor or Human Resources for issues relating to dissatisfaction in the workplace or related matters, as these issues cannot be investigated in the scope of whistleblowing.
A person who blows the whistle does not need to have firm evidence for expressing a suspicion. However, deliberate reporting of false or malicious information is forbidden. Abuse of the whistleblowing service is a serious disciplinary offence.
3. How to blow the whistle?
There are different ways to raise a concern:
- Alternative 1: If you choose to make a non-anonymous report, you can contact the Human Resources team: Ana Martins (ana.martins@fucoli-somepal.pt), at Head Office; and the Soraia Silva (soraia.silva@fucoli-somepal.pt), at Branch Office.
- Alternative 2: If you choose to make an anonymous or confidential report, report the suspicion through our Reporting Channel: https://report.whistleb.com/fucoli-somepal.
- Alternative 3: Pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 7 of Law no. 93/2021, of December 20, you may use an external reporting channel of the competent authorities.
All messages received will be handled confidentially. The whistleblowing channel is administrated by WhistleB, an external service provider. All messages are encrypted. To ensure the anonymity of the person sending a message, WhistleB deletes all meta data, including IP addresses. The person sending the message also remains anonymous in the subsequent dialogue with responsible receivers of the report.
4. The investigation process
THE WHISTLEBLOWING TEAM
Access to messages received through our whistleblowing channel is restricted to appointed individuals with the authority to handle whistleblowing cases. Their actions are logged and handling is confidential. When needed, individuals who can add expertise may be included in the investigation process, upon consent from the whistleblower in case identity of the reporting person is disclosed. These individuals can access relevant data and are also bound to confidentiality.
The whistleblowing management team consists of:
Ms. Ana Martins
Ms. Soraia Silva
RECEIVING A MESSAGE RECEIPT OF COMPLAINT
Upon receiving a message, the whistleblowing team decides whether to accept or decline the message. If the message is accepted, appropriate measures for investigation will be taken, please see Investigation below.
The whistleblower will receive an acknowledgment of receipt of the report within seven days, with information about the requirements, form and admissibility of the report.
The whistleblowing team may not investigate the reported misconduct if:
- the alleged conduct is not reportable conduct under these Whistleblowing guidelines
- the message has not been made in good faith or is malicious
- there is insufficient information to allow for further investigation
- if the Company is found to be incompetent to assess the complaint, in which case the management team will refer the case to the competent entity, and the complainant must be notified of this fact
- the subject of the message has already been solved
If a message includes issues not covered by the scope of these Whistleblowing guidelines, the whistleblowing team should provide the reporting person with appropriate instructions.
Within 3 months after the date of receipt of the report, the management team will inform the complainant about the measures planned or adopted to follow up on the report.
INVESTIGATION
All messages are treated seriously and in accordance with these Whistleblowing guidelines.
- No one from the whistleblowing team, or anyone taking part in the investigation process, will attempt to identify the whistleblower.
- The whistleblowing team may, when necessary, submit questions and request further information from the complainant through the anonymous communication channel.
- A message will not be investigated by anyone who may be involved with or connected to the wrongdoing.
- Whistleblowing messages are handled confidentially by the parties involved.
- Corporate or external expertise may be included in the investigation upon consent from whistleblower.
- Within 15 days of the conclusion of the investigation, the whistleblower may request that the company communicate the results of the investigation.
5. Protection and privacy
WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION
A person who reports, in good faith, a genuine suspicion or concern in accordance with these guidelines will not be at risk of losing their job or suffering any act of retaliation.
Subject to considerations of the privacy of those against whom allegations have been made, and any other issues of confidentiality, a whistleblower will be kept informed of the outcomes of the investigation into the allegations.
In cases of alleged criminal offences, the non-anonymous whistleblower will be informed that his/her identity may need to be disclosed during judicial proceedings.
PERSONAL DATA OF PROCESSING
This whistleblowing service may collect personal data on the person specified in a message, the person submitting the message (if not sent anonymously) and any third person involved, in order to investigate facts on the declared misdeeds and inappropriate behaviour eligible under our code of conduct or internal rules. This processing is based on statutory obligations and the legitimate interest of the controller to prevent reputational risks and to promote an ethical business activity. The provided description and facts under this processing are only reserved to the competent and authorized persons who handles this information confidentially. ou can exercise your rights of access, rectification and opposition, as well as limited processing of your personal data, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. These rights are subject to any overriding safeguarding measures required to prevent the destruction of evidence or other obstructions to the processing and investigation of the case. Data is stored within the EU. For any further questions or complaints please address your request to Ana Martins (ana.martins@fucoli-somepal.pt) or Soraia Silva (soraia.silva@fucoli-somepal.pt).
DELETION OF DATA
Personal data included in a whistleblowing messages and investigation documentation is deleted when the investigation is complete, with the exception of when personal data must be maintained according to other applicable laws. Permanent deletion is carried out 30 days after completion of the investigation. Investigation documentation and whistleblower messages that are archived will be anonymised under GDPR; they will not include personal data through which persons can be directly or indirectly identified.
According to article 20 of Law no. 93/2021, of December 20, a record of complaints received must be kept and kept for a minimum period of five years.
PERSONAL DATA CONTROLLER:
FUCOLI-SOMEPAL – Fundição de Ferro, S.A. is responsible for the personal data processed within the whistleblowing service.
PERSONAL DATA PROCESSOR:
WhistleB Whistleblowing Centre Ab (World Trade Centre, Klarabergsviadukten 70, SE-107 24 Stockholm) responsible for the whistleblowing application, including processing of encrypted data, such as whistleblowing messages. Neither WhistleB nor any sub-suppliers can decrypt and read messages. As such, neither WhistleB nor its sub-processors have access to readable content.