Information on the whistleblowing center under the HinSchG/LkSG

Information on the whistleblowing center under the HinSchG/LkSG
As part of a modern compliance culture, we, NATUS GmbH & Co KG (hereinafter: NATUS), have set up a whistleblowing system that you can contact if you become aware of violations of legal regulations, internal guidelines or ethical standards within the company by the company, its employees or direct suppliers. We endeavour to improve ourselves at all times and are also dependent on your information. You can submit reports by stating your name, but also anonymously.
We provide information on the procedures of our whistleblowing system below. Please note that the whistleblowing system is only set up for reports that concern violations of legal requirements on our part in accordance with Sections 2 and 3 HinSchG and Section 2 LkSG.
The new whistleblowing procedure at the whistleblowing center is as follows:

1. if you recognise indications that NATUS or one of NATUS' direct suppliers is violating legal requirements or that such a risk exists, you have the opportunity to notify us of this.

You can send notifications by e-mail to the following address:
hinweisstelle.natus@brandi.net
You can also notify us by telephone at the following number:
0160/97974172

The information will be received and processed by the law firm BRANDI Rechtsanwälte in Detmold.
You can provide information anonymously or by stating your identity. The whistleblowing center will ensure that your identity is treated confidentially and, in particular, is kept secret from NATUS. Only the law firm BRANDI Rechtsanwälte, as a whistleblowing center acting independently of us, has access to your information, not NATUS itself.

You determine the content of the tip-off. However, we would ask you to be as specific as possible (what happened when and where? Is the risk or breach of duty still ongoing? Which persons or companies are involved?) in order to follow up the tip-off as efficiently as possible and to be able to rectify a potential risk or breach of duty as quickly as possible.

2. the whistleblowing center will receive the information and confirm receipt of the information within seven days at the latest. However, this is only possible for the whistleblowing center if you provide the information, stating a contact to which the whistleblowing center can turn.

The whistleblowing center will then check

a.) whether the information you have passed on may constitute a breach of duty or such a risk,
b.) whether and to what extent measures are required to eliminate such breaches of duty or risks.
The whistleblowing center may contact you again if further information on the information you have provided is required.

3. the whistleblowing center will inform NATUS about the content of the information received (while preserving your anonymity and the anonymity of the persons also named in the information). The whistleblowing center will examine what measures are necessary at NATUS to eliminate or prevent any risks or breaches of duty.

The whistleblowing center will coordinate with NATUS when selecting the necessary measures. However, it is independent of NATUS at all times and will make decisions independently and without instructions from NATUS.

The whistleblowing center will ensure that the information you pass on is treated with the same care regardless of who you are. It will also ensure that you do not suffer any disadvantages from NATUS as a result of your information. The whistleblowing center will inform NATUS of the content of the information provided without allowing any conclusions to be drawn about you as the whistleblower. Your identity will therefore be protected.

As a precautionary measure, however, we would like to point out that the whistleblowing center is authorised to disclose the identity of the whistleblower to NATUS if the whistleblower intentionally reports incorrect information about violations.

4 The whistleblowing center will keep you informed about the further progress and the measures taken. You will receive a report on the current status of the procedure at least once a month. As soon as the necessary measures have been completed, the whistleblowing center will send you a final report.

5. should you wish to contact a federal reporting center under public law as an alternative, the following reporting centers are available to you:
a.) The external federal reporting office at the Federal Office of Justice (to be found at https://www.bundesjustizamt.de/DE/MeldestelledesBundes/MeldestelledesBundes_node.html );
b.) The reporting office of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (to be found at https://www.bafin.de/DE/DieBaFin/Hinweisgeberstelle/hinweisgeberstelle_node.html );
c.) The reporting office of the Federal Cartel Office (to be found at https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/DE/Kartellverbot/Anonyme_Hinweise/anonymehinweise_artikel.html )

In addition, reporting centers have also been set up at European level which you can also contact. These include the reporting channels of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Nevertheless, we request that you prioritise reporting to our internal reporting office.
By reporting errors or offences, you will help us to rectify any errors at an early stage and to improve even further in the future. So please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Thank you for your help!