Implementation of the Whistleblower Protection Act at Leuphana

a. Aims of the Whistleblower Protection Act

The Whistleblower Protection Act regulates, on the one hand, the protection of whistleblowers who have obtained information about violations of the law in a professional context and report or disclose such information (so-called whistleblowers) and, on the other hand, the protection of persons who are the subject of such a report or disclosure or are otherwise affected by it.

At the same time, the aim of improving the protection of whistleblowers is to be reconciled with the interests of companies and public administration, which are obliged to take whistleblower protection measures.
 

b. The main provisions of the Whistleblower Protection Act

The Whistleblower Protection Act applies to the reporting and disclosure of information about certain violations that are subject to criminal penalties or fines, and to violations of other legal provisions, for example, on environmental protection, data protection or public procurement.  

First of all, the law establishes a fundamental requirement of confidentiality in dealing with the identity of persons in reports. In addition, it contains a prohibition of discrimination against whistleblowers. Persons who intend to report information about a violation can choose whether to contact an internal reporting office or an external reporting office.

Employers have an obligation to establish and operate internal hotlines to which employees can turn to report information about violations. The legislator encourages the use of internal hotlines. The internal hotlines operate reporting channels, carry out the reporting procedure and take so-called follow-up measures as a result of this procedure. The persons entrusted with the tasks of an internal reporting office are independent in the exercise of their activities.

The protection of whistleblowers presupposes, among other things, that they have made a report or disclosure, i.e. that they have made use of the internal reporting office, for example. In the reporting procedure, there is a basic confidentiality requirement. An exception to this applies, among other things, if incorrect information about violations is reported intentionally or through gross negligence. Similarly, the law prohibits the disclosure of incorrect information about violations. Such intentionally or grossly negligently false reports or disclosures may trigger obligations to pay damages.

c. Implementation of the law at Leuphana, establishment of an internal reporting office

Due to the high sensitivity of reports and disclosures under the Whistleblower Protection Act for the whistleblowers, for the persons affected by a report, for Leuphana's ability to function as an institution and for our common confidential and collegial cooperation, the Legal Office, the Human Resources Department and the Staff Council have coordinated the internal implementation of the Whistleblower Protection Act with the aim of establishing a careful and prudent concept for reporting and whistleblower protection at our university.

The most important points for implementation at a glance:

• An internal reporting office is available for submitting reports, which is located with Mr. Thies Ove Plath.
• Reports can be made anonymously or by name.
• Reports can be submitted verbally or in text form.
   
• There are four reporting channels to choose from:
  • Reports can be submitted by post or via Mr Plath's post box.
  • In addition, reports can be submitted orally (by telephone or other means of voice transmission). For this purpose, Mr. Plath is available by telephone (from Monday to Thursday) at 04131.677-1557.
  • At the request of the person providing the information, a personal meeting for the submission of reports is also possible.
  • With the consent of the person giving the information, the meeting can also take place via video and audio transmission (e.g. as a video conference).

d. Detailed information on the intranet

Detailed information on the internal implementation of the Whistleblower Protection Act can be found on the new intranet page Whistleblower Protection.