Whistleblowing Policy and Procedure at Tapflo Sp. z o.o.

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  • No retaliatory actions or attempts or threats to apply such actions may be taken against the whistleblower, consisting in particular of:
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      1. The whistleblower is protected from the moment the report is made, provided that they had reasonable grounds to believe that the information that is the subject of the report is true at the time of making the report and that it constitutes information about a breach of law.
      2. No retaliatory actions or attempts or threats to apply such actions may be taken against the whistleblower, consisting in particular of:
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          § 1 Introduction

          1. Pursuant to Article 25(1) and (2) of the Act of 14 June 2024 on the Protection of Whistleblowers (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 928), Tapflo Sp. z o.o. establishes the Internal Reporting Procedure, which defines the rules for reporting breaches of law, taking follow-up actions, and protecting persons reporting breaches of law (whistleblowers).
          2. Accepting reports of breaches of law is an element of proper and safe management at Tapflo Sp. z o.o. and serves to increase the effectiveness of detecting irregularities and taking action to eliminate them and reduce risk at all organizational levels.

          § 2 Definitions

          Whenever in the Internal Reporting Procedure there is mention of:

          1. Employer – this shall mean the company Tapflo Sp. z o.o.;
          2. Procedure – this shall mean this Procedure for reporting breaches of law and protection of whistleblowers and taking follow-up actions;
          3. Whistleblower – this shall mean a natural person reporting an irregularity in a work-related context, regardless of their position, form of employment or cooperation, entrepreneur, proxy, shareholder or partner, member of a body of a legal person or an organizational unit without legal personality, a person performing work under the supervision and direction of a contractor, subcontractor or supplier, including on the basis of a civil law contract, trainee, volunteer, intern, who has been granted Whistleblower status under the rules specified in this Procedure
          4. Reporter – this shall mean a person reporting breaches of law using the reporting channels specified in this Procedure.
          5. Breach Committee – this shall mean a team conducting an investigation regarding Breaches, consisting of persons appointed by the Company’s Management Board. The team consists of the Director and other members, depending on the area to which the report pertains.
          6. Report of irregularity/breach of law – this shall mean the provision, in the manner specified in this Procedure, by a person authorized to make a report, of information that may indicate a breach of law.
          7. Person concerned by the report – this shall mean a natural person, legal person or organizational unit without legal personality, to which the law grants legal capacity, indicated in the report as the person who committed the breach of law, or as a person with whom the person who committed the breach of law is connected.
          8. Person responsible for managing the report – this shall mean the person responsible for receiving reports and taking follow-up actions, including conducting the investigation regarding the report.
          9. Register of Reports (Register) – this shall mean the register kept in connection with reports of breaches of law.

          § 3 Breaches of law subject to reporting.

          1. A breach of law is an act or omission inconsistent with the law or intended to circumvent the law concerning:
            • corruption;
            • public procurement;
            • financial services, products and markets;
            • prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing;
            • product safety and compliance;
            • transport safety;
            • environmental protection;
            • radiological protection and nuclear safety;
            • food and feed safety;
            • animal health and welfare;
            • public health;
            • consumer protection;
            • protection of privacy and personal data;
            • security of network and information systems;
            • financial interests of the State Treasury of the Republic of Poland, local government units and the European Union;
            • the internal market of the European Union, including public law rules on competition and state aid and corporate taxation;
            • constitutional freedoms and human and civil rights occurring in the relations of individuals with public authorities and not related to the areas indicated above.
          2. A report may concern a reasonable suspicion regarding an existing or potential breach of law that has occurred or is likely to occur at the Employer.

          § 4 Persons responsible for managing the report

          1. The person responsible for receiving and handling reports of irregularities at Tapflo Sp. z o.o., and who has overall supervision over the receipt and handling of reports of breaches of law, is the person performing the function of Secretary, i.e., Anna Sokołowska, and in her absence, the substitute is the HR and Administrative Specialist: Ewa Orzłowska.
          2. The person responsible for managing reports acts impartially and independently, based on the authorization to receive reports and take follow-up actions.
          3. A person who, according to the content of the report, may be involved in any way in the act or omission that is the subject of the report, may not analyze such a report.
          4. In the event that the report of a breach of law concerns the persons indicated above, the responsible person is the Finance and Administration Manager: Anna Rzeniecka.

          § 5 Reporting irregularities

          1. Reports of irregularities may be submitted only in paper form to the correspondence address: Tapflo Sp. z o.o., ul. Czatkowska 4b, 83-110 Tczew, marked for personal collection (indicate here the person responsible for receiving reports) with the annotation: “report,” by completing the irregularity report form available on the Tapflo Sp. z o.o. website – the template of the report form constitutes Appendix No. 1 to this Procedure.
          2. Anonymous reports of breaches will not be accepted or considered.
          3. The report should provide a clear and comprehensive explanation of the subject of the report, and contain in particular:
            • the date and place of the breach of law or the date and place of obtaining information about the breach of law;
            • a description of the specific situation or circumstances creating the possibility of a breach of law;
            • indication of the person concerned by the report;
            • indication of any injured party;
            • indication of any witnesses to the breach of law;
            • indication of all evidence and information available to the whistleblower that may be helpful in the process of handling the report;
            • indication of the preferred method of contact.
          4. Reports should be handled in the order they are received, unless the seriousness or nature of the Breach warrants prioritizing a given case.
          5. If it is determined as a result of analyzing the report or during the investigation that the report knowingly contained false information or concealed the truth, the Whistleblower may be subject to disciplinary action specified in the provisions of the Labor Code. Such conduct may also be classified as a serious breach of fundamental employee obligations and, as such, result in termination of the employment contract without notice. In relation to a person performing work, services or supplying goods under a civil law contract, making a false report may result in termination of the contract and cessation of cooperation. A person who has made a report knowingly containing false information or concealing the truth does not benefit from the protection provided for Whistleblowers.
          6. The reporter is obliged to treat the information in their possession regarding the suspected irregularity as confidential and to refrain from public discussions about the reported suspected irregularities, unless the person is obliged to do so by law.

          § 6 Whistleblower

          1. In accordance with the principle of good faith, any person entitled to make a report should report an irregularity if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the information being provided is true.
          2. Knowingly submitting false reports is prohibited. According to the Act of 14 June 2024 on the Protection of Whistleblowers (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 928), a person reporting false information is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or imprisonment for up to 2 years.
          3. The decision to grant whistleblower status is made by the person responsible for handling reports.
          4. Whistleblower status can be granted to any reporter, unless the initial analysis of the report gives grounds to assume that the reporter clearly acted in bad faith (presumption of good faith).
          5. If, during the investigation, it turns out that the reporter who previously received whistleblower status acted in bad faith, they are deprived of the protection provided for whistleblowers.

          § 7 Information on making external reports

          1. The reporter may make an external report without first making an internal report.
          2. An external report is an oral or written communication to the Human Rights Defender (hereinafter referred to as the HRD) or a public body, or, where applicable, to institutions, bodies or organizational units of the European Union, of information about a breach of law.
          3. An external report is accepted by the HRD or a public body.
          4. The HRD and the public body are separate controllers with regard to personal data provided in an external report that has been accepted by these bodies.
          5. A whistleblower may make an external report orally or in writing.

          § 8 Investigative procedure

          1. Access to channels for reporting breaches of law is limited to persons responsible for managing reports.
          2. After receiving a report of a breach of law, the person responsible for handling reports shall, immediately, but no later than within 7 days of receiving it:
            • issue confirmation of the report of irregularity on the form, the template of which is specified in Appendix No. 2 to this Procedure, unless the whistleblower has not provided a contact address to which the confirmation should be sent;
            • conduct an initial analysis of the report.
            • grant or not grant whistleblower status to the reporting person.
          3. If the report is admissible, the person responsible for handling reports, together with the Breach Committee, initiates an investigation, which is conducted according to the rules specified in this Procedure.
          4. Exceeding the deadline indicated above is justified only if it is necessary to take additional steps as part of the initial analysis of the report (e.g., the need to supplement the report, gather additional evidence). The initial analysis of the report may not take longer than 14 days.
          5. The maximum deadline for providing feedback to the whistleblower is 3 months from the date of confirmation of receipt of the report.

          § 9 Whistleblower protection

          1. The whistleblower is protected from the moment the report is made, provided that they had reasonable grounds to believe that the information that is the subject of the report is true at the time of making the report and that it constitutes information about a breach of law.
          2. No retaliatory actions or attempts or threats to apply such actions may be taken against the whistleblower, consisting in particular of:
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Attachments to this Procedure:

Tapflo_Procedure

Attachment No. 1

Irregularity Report Form

Attachment No. 2

Anomaly Report Confirmation

Attachment No. 3

Register of Non-conformity Reports. Template