Internal notification procedure

PROCEDURE FOR INTERNAL REPORTING , INFRINGEMENTS AND FOLLOW-UP published on 17.09.2024 . Consultation on the procedure took place with employee representatives from 09.09.2024 to 13.09.2024.

§1. Objective

The adoption of this procedure is intended to:

Fulfilment of the obligation in connection with Article 24 of the Act of 14 June 2024 on the protection of whistleblowers

§2. Glossary

1. Follow-up action - action taken by the employer to assess the veracity of the information contained in the report to counteract the reported infringement, e.g. internal investigation, initiation of an audit, filing of charges, action taken to recover funds.
2. Retaliation - direct or indirect acts or omissions, in a work-related context, caused by a report and which infringe or may infringe the whistleblower's rights, causing or likely to cause harm to the whistleblower.
3. Feedback - information provided to the whistleblower on follow-up actions planned or taken.
4. Work-related context - the totality of work-related circumstances within which information about the breach was obtained.
5. Whistleblower helper - a person who may experience retaliation due to helping a whistleblower.
6. A person associated with the whistleblower - a colleague or family member of the whistleblower who may experience retaliation.
7. Person affected by the report - the person identified in the report as the offender or a person associated with the offender.
8. Coordinator - a person appointed by the employer under specific authority to receive reports, verify them, investigate, undertake and coordinate follow-up.
9. Infringement an act or omission that is unlawful or intended to circumvent the law.
10. Employer - Asma Polska Sp. z o.o.
11. Procedure - this internal notification procedure.
12. Whistleblower - a person making an internal report under the terms of the procedure and an external report or public disclosure under the terms of the Whistleblower Protection Act.
13. Public disclosure of the breach to the public.
14. Act - the Whistleblower Protection Act of 14 June 2024.
15. Report - information or reasonable suspicion regarding an existing or potential breach of law or irregularity that has occurred or will occur in a work-related context, or an attempt to conceal it.
16. Internal application - an application made under the terms and in the form provided for in the procedure.
17. External notification - a notification addressed to the Ombudsman or other public authority.

§3 Personal scope

In the light of this procedure, whistleblowers may become:

• employee,
• temporary employee,
• a person providing work on a basis other than employment, including under a civil law contract,
• persons who are no longer in employment
• job candidates,
• intern, volunteer, trainee,
• proxy,
• shareholder or partner,
• member of the management or supervisory body,
• the entrepreneur - the service provider and supplier with whom the employer is contractually linked,
• persons working under the supervision and direction of the entrepreneur.

§4 Scope

1. The procedure applies to reports of legal violations concerning:

- corruption,

- public procurement,

- financial services, products and markets,

- anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing,

- product safety and compliance,

- transport security,

- environmental protection,

- radiological protection and nuclear safety,

- food and feed safety,

- animal health and welfare,

- public health,

- consumer protection,

- privacy and data protection,

- security of ICT networks and systems,

- the financial interests of the State Treasury of the Republic of Poland, the local government unit and the European Union,

- the internal market of the European Union, including public law competition and state aid rules and corporate taxation,

- constitutional freedoms and rights of the human being and the citizen - occurring in the relations of the individual with public authorities and not related to the areas indicated above.

§5 Means of notification

1. To apply, please use one of the application channels listed.

(a) Application by letter:

•  Application is made by sending a letter to: Asma Polska Sp. z o.o. , Wola Ducka, 10 Mostów Street, 05-408 Glinianka,
• the letter should be addressed directly to the application coordinator, stating "To be handed to ...( name of appointed coordinator), Do not open",
•  only by providing personal details and your preferred form of contact in the message will whistleblowers be able to contact you.

(b) Face-to-face meeting:

• The whistleblower may request a face-to-face meeting with the coordinator,
• You may choose one of the above application channels to submit your application or do so by any other official means,
• the request should be addressed to the coordinator,
• The meeting will be organised no later than 14 days after receipt of the request,
• at the whistleblower's express request or due to the special circumstances of the case and the need to ensure discretion and confidentiality, the meeting may be organised away from the employer's premises,
• the meeting will be documented by means of an audio and video recording or in the form of minutes reproducing its exact proceedings,
• the whistleblower will have the right to check, correct and approve the minutes by signing them.

§6 Application requirements

1. The information provided by the whistleblower will be considered a notification and will be subject to this procedure if the general conditions are met:

- veracity of the report The whistleblower does not need to have evidence to corroborate the information contained in the report, but must have reasonable grounds to believe that the information provided is true at the time the report is made,

- work-related context The information contained in the application must be obtained in a work-related context,

 - categories of irregularities - the information contained in the notification must relate to an infringement of the law or an irregularity listed in § 4 of the procedure.

2. The employer does not tolerate false reports - disciplinary and civil consequences will be taken against those making such reports and a report will be made to the relevant judicial authorities.
3. Applications made anonymously will not be considered and are not subject to this procedure.
4. The whistleblower should ensure that as much valuable information as possible is provided to allow the investigation to proceed effectively.

§7 Coordinators and confidentiality

1. To receive and handle reports, undertake and coordinate follow-up and process the personal data of whistleblowers, as well as other persons named in the report, the employer shall appoint and authorise the following notification coordinator.
2. Information on the authorisation of the coordinator, together with his details, will be made known each time by means of a communication from the Board.
3. The Coordinators guarantee that all submissions will be treated with due seriousness and diligence and that their investigation will be based on the principles of impartiality and objectivity. Respect for the dignity and good name of all persons affected by a report will be the guiding principle throughout the investigation process.
4. Coordinators, as well as all other participants in the investigation, are required to exercise due diligence to ensure that all decisions and follow-up actions are made on the basis of facts and evidence gathered, and not slander and unfounded accusations.
5. The organisation of the process of making, receiving and handling reports is designed to prevent any unauthorised person from gaining access to the information contained in the report.
6. The organisation of the process shall ensure the confidentiality and protection of the identity of the person who makes the notification, the person who is the subject of the notification and all other persons whose data appear in the notification.
7. Access to the whistleblower's data and the information contained in the report shall be granted by the coordinator only to those persons who are necessary for an effective investigation, after taking from them a written undertaking to keep confidential all information obtained during the investigation.
8. In any other case, disclosure of the identity of the applicant may only be made with his or her express consent.
9. Disclosure of a whistleblower's data may also take place if it is a necessary and proportionate legal obligation in connection with investigations by public authorities or pre-trial or judicial proceedings carried out by the courts, including in order to guarantee the right of defence of the reported person.

§8 Follow-up

1. Steps to follow once a notification has been received:

(a) registration of the application

(b) within 7 days of receipt of the notification, the coordinator will confirm to the signaller that the notification has been received,

(c) Feedback - within 3 months, the coordinators will provide feedback to the whistleblower on whether or not a breach has been established and on the follow-up actions planned or taken and the reasons for such actions,

(d) termination of the case in the register of notifications.

§9 External reporting

1. The employer urges applications to be made through internal application channels under the terms of the procedure.
2. However, whistleblowers have the option to make an external notification.
3. External notification shall be made to:

(a) the Ombudsman,

(b) other public authorities receiving external notifications of infringements in their areas of competence,

(c) institutions, bodies, offices or agencies of the European Union.

(4) Detailed information on the procedure, rules and form of external reporting can be found in Chapter 4 of the Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers.

§10.Applicability of the procedure

1. This procedure was announced on 17.09.2024 and enters into force within 7 days of the announcement.
2. The procedure applies to all employees regardless of their position and the type of contract creating the employment relationship.

List of annexes:

Annex 1 - Authorisation of the Application Coordinator

Annex 2 - Register of internal notifications

Annex 3 - Confirmation of receipt

Annex 4 - Feedback

Annex 5 - Information clause for job applicants concerning the internal notification procedure

Annex 6 - Confidentiality notice and undertaking

Pursuant to Order 1/09/2024, an application coordinator was appointed, Agnieszka Borowska