Rules of procedure for the complaints process according to the German Supply Chain Act (LkSG)
OBI – Rules of Procedure for the complaints process according to Sections 8, 9 (1) German Supply Chain Act
The OBI Group is a company that operates all over the world. Compliance with laws, integrity and sustainability are deeply anchored in the OBI company culture.
The whistleblower and complaints process is an integral part of the Human Rights Management System, the compliance management system and the supply chain policy at OBI.
The complaints process enables individuals, companies and organisations to shed light on human rights or environmental risks or violations, as well as violations of applicable law, internal policies and business principles of OBI or to express concerns relating to such issues. It thus serves to prevent violations, and to uncover potential malpractice and stop this from continuing.
1. Scope of these rules of procedure
The German Supply Chain Act (“LkSG”) requires OBI to set up a complaints process which makes it possible to report human rights and environmental risks which are protected under the law and violations of human rights or environmental duties which have occurred due to the business activities (i) of OBI in its own field of business or (ii) of a direct or (iii) of an indirect supplier to OBI.
The EU Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of EU law, and its national implementing laws require OBI to set up internal reporting offices in the OBI countries which are in the European Union, which employees and temporary employees can use to report information which they have become aware of in the course of their professional activities relating to potential compliance violations at OBI.
OBI meets these statutory duties by providing a uniform whistleblowing system (“Speak-up” - BKMS® System). Although the following rules of procedure are only legally binding with reference to the LkSG, the document also sets out general principles which apply to the OBI “Speak Up” whistleblowing system in general.
2. What can be reported?
Human rights and environmental risks and violations
Anyone can report human rights or environmental risks or violations of (i) applicable law, in particular the LkSG, (ii) the OBI Code of Conduct and (iii) other internal policies at OBI, which have occurred due to the business activities (i) of OBI in its own field of business or (ii) of a direct or (iii) of an indirect supplier to OBI.
These human rights or other environmental risks and violations may include, but are not limited to, for example:
- Child labour
- Forced labour or slavery
- Failure to observe applicable occupational safety regulations where this leads to a risk of accidents at work and/or occupational health risks (e.g. due to a lack of safety standards, a lack of safety measures; insufficient training and instruction, including violations of working time laws).
- Violation of freedom of association, meaning the freedom to establish trade unions or to join these without discrimination and to be freely permitted to be involved in trade union activities (this includes in particular strike law and the right to collective negotiations)
- Discrimination or unequal treatment in employment
- Refusal to pay adequate wages (in all cases, the minimum wage that is payable under the relevant law is deemed adequate)
- Causing harmful environmental changes, e.g. ground changes, pollution of water and air, noise emissions or excessive water consumption
- Unlawful forced eviction and illegal seizure of land, forests and waters, in the acquisition, development or other use of such land, forests or waters, the use of which ensures a person’s livelihood
- Abuse of power by private and public security forces
- Use of mercury in products and production and treatment of mercury waste in violation of the provisions of international law
- Use and production of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and treatment of waste which contains persistent organic pollutants in violation of the provisions of international law
- Import and export of hazardous waste in violation of the provisions of international law
Compliance risks and violations
Members of a company in the OBI Group and third parties may also report any other company-related violation of applicable law (laws, regulations etc., in particular those mentioned in EU Directive 2019/1937) which have occurred or are recognised as about to occur, as well as other violations of the OBI Code of Conduct or other significant compliance policies. Other compliance violations include, for example, bribery and corruption, money laundering, theft, breach of trust or failure to comply with anti-trust provisions.
Product or service-related customer requests and complaints
“Speak Up” is not intended for product-related or service-related customer enquiries and complaints. If you have any questions, feedback or complaints about OBI products or services, please contact OBI Customer Care at at https://www.obi.de/pages/hilfe-und-kontakt.
3. Who can submit a report?
The OBI complaints process is open to anyone.
Therefore, whistleblowers may include, for example:
- (i) employees; (ii) customers; (iii) shareholders / investors in a company in the OBI Group or a direct or indirect supplier to OBI
- Companies or Authorities
- Residents of an OBI market or a production facility of a direct or indirect supplier to OBI
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
- Third parties, who have knowledge of an infringement, e.g. relatives.
Accordingly, reports can also be submitted by whistleblowers who are personally directly or indirectly affected by the risk being reported or the violation being reported or by whistleblowers who are not personally affected.
4. How can reports be submitted?
Reports can be submitted via the web-based BKMS® System online tool which is operated by OBI (“Speak Up”).
The platform is available at all times, i.e. seven days a week and twenty four hours a day, free of charge.
In order to submit a report, please click on the “Submit report” button located at the top of the introduction page in the BKMS® System online tool. In the system, a report concerning human rights or environmental risks or violations can be submitted under the category “Human rights and environmental risks or violations at OBI or with business partners of OBI and in their supply chains”. All other reports can be submitted under the category “Violations in the OBI Group”.
The steps to submitting a report are described individually in the BKMS® System online tool. You can also find FAQs there. After you submit a report, you will have access to your own secured postbox. This enables you to access the platform at any time, receive feedback from OBI and potentially answer further questions and add additional information.
Reports which are sent to OBI via another channel (e.g. by post, telephone or email) will also be entered into the BKMS® System by OBI for further processing.
5. What languages can I use to write my report?
The following languages can be selected in the entry screen in the BKMS® System online tool:
- Chinese
- German
- English
- Italian
- Polish
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Czech
- Hungarian
- Vietnamese
Reports may be submitted in all languages.
The report processing is generally carried out in German, English, Italian, Polish, Slovak, Slovenian, Czech or Hungarian. This also applies to communication with the whistleblower. Where requested, OBI endeavours to communicate in the whistleblower’s language but is unable to guarantee this option.
6. Can reports also be submitted anonymously?
Reports can also be sent anonymously. OBI protects the whistleblower’s anonymity. OBI is prohibited by law from identifying or attempting to identify the whistleblowers against their will.
7. Next steps after submitting a report
Confirmation of receipt
The whistleblower receives confirmation of receipt via the secured postbox in the online tool no later than seven days after the report is received. Exceptions from this include customer complaints or other complaints that clearly have no connection to human rights, environmental or compliance matters. If you have not set up a postbox, or it is not possible to send confirmation of receipt due to the reporting channel you have chosen (e.g. anonymous letter), we cannot send you a confirmation of receipt.
Who reviews the report?
Reports which may relate to human rights and environmental risks and violations are forwarded without undue delay on receipt to a trust counsel in the legal department at OBI.
The trust counsel decides whether they will further process the report or appoint someone else to do so, or whether it will be processed by one of the other report examiners at OBI. All report examiners are employees at the OBI Group headquarters and are familiar with the operational specialist topics.
OBI will ensure that the trust counsel and all other report examiners entrusted with carrying out this process,
- are required to maintain confidentiality,
- are in their processing and free from conflicts of interest,
- provide a guarantee concerning impartiality,
- are not subject to any specialist instructions with regard to the examination of the report and
- are required to keep the whistleblower’s identity or anonymity, as well as the identity of the individuals mentioned in the report confidential.
In addition, OBI ensures that they have the necessary specialist knowledge to deal with reports concerning human rights and environmental risks.
How are reports concerning human rights or environmental risks or violations reviewed?
OBI takes every report very seriously. In the first step of the review process, the report examiners carry out a plausibility check and preliminary review. This serves to check whether the report (i) is sufficiently serious and (ii) further processing is necessary. This review will be commenced within three days of receipt of the report (excluding Sundays and bank holidays).
Depending on the nature and content of the report, the plausibility check includes the following steps in particular:
- Where necessary: Obtaining a confidential translation of the report.
- Review of whether there are sufficient indications that relevant human rights or environmental risks or violations may exist.
- If it is possible to contact the whistleblower, the facts of the case will be discussed with the whistleblower. This includes, in particular, further questions and obtaining additional information.
If a suspicious situation is assumed, it will be further examined which investigation and clarification measures are necessary in the individual case. This includes, for example, risk analyses, employee or supplier interviews, supplier audits and carrying out an internal investigation. In addition, a review is carried out to ascertain the extent to which OBI may or should take legally or actually take further, possibly provisional, measures as early as at this stage.
The complaints process is suspended without further action if, including after further exchange with the whistleblower - if this is possible - there is no sufficient level of suspicion of relevant human rights or environmental risks or violations, for example because the report is clearly baseless, not plausible, not conclusive or untrue or the report does not relate to OBI or suppliers to OBI.
How long can the review stage take?
The review is carried out quickly. Depending on the scope, level of complexity, and OBI's ability to exert influence, a review may take a few days to several months. As part of the case investigation, OBI provides whistleblowers with enough time and the opportunity to raise relevant aspects and respond to any further questions from OBI.
What could be possible subsequent measures in the case of a confirmed human rights or environmental risk or violation?
In the case of a confirmed human rights or environmental risk or violation, OBI takes decisions to eliminate or minimise this. This includes, for example, personnel measures, reporting to authorities, requirements for suppliers, or adjustments to processes or working conditions extending up to terminating business relationships. If a human rights or environmental risk or violation is identified in OBI’s field of business activity in Germany, OBI will take measures to stop the risk or violation immediately and to prevent recurrences. This also applies to OBI’s business activity abroad if local law is in conflict.
When does the whistleblower receive information about the outcome of the process?
Within three months of the receipt of confirmation, the whistleblower is informed about the outcome of the process, which includes an explanation. This notification is only provided or only insofar as this does not affect further internal research or investigations of the rights of persons to whom the information relates or who are mentioned in the report.
If the process is suspended, OBI will inform the whistleblower within a period of three months from confirmation of receipt of the report that no follow-up measures were taken and provide the reasons for this.
OBI cannot inform you about the outcome of the process if you have not set up a postbox, or it is not possible to contact you due to the reporting channel you have chosen (e.g. anonymous letter).
Is the process free of charge?
The complaints process described in these rules of procedure is free of charge for whistleblowers.
However, OBI does not pay for any costs and expenses incurred by the whistleblower in connection with the use of the complaints process; in particular, it will not cover travel costs or costs for legal advice.
8. Principles of the process
How does the complaints process ensure confidentiality?
Only the trust counsel in the legal department and the other report examiners have access to reports received via the BKMS® System online tool. They are obliged to maintain confidentiality about the reports and the processing thereof. As such, they handle reports and the whistleblower’s identity, where legally permissible, as strictly confidential.
They ensure that, without the express consent of the whistleblower in text form, their identity is not disclosed to anybody apart from the responsible report examiners, the human rights officer and, where possible, in accordance with a strict need-to-know principle (information goes to the persons who must necessarily be involved in the clarification of the facts), the contacts who are consulted in connection with the case management in the specialist departments or legal advisors and, where applicable, the responsible employees or body members who take follow-up measures unless such disclosure takes place (i) to fulfil a statutory obligation; (ii) as part of criminal proceedings on the request of law enforcement authorities; (iii) on the basis of an order in an administrative process following the report; (iv) on the basis of a court judgment and (v) in other cases in which the passing on of this information is legally permissible.
This also applies to all other information that may be used to derive the identity of the whistleblower, either directly or indirectly. If one of the above exceptions applies to the confidentiality principle, the whistleblower will be informed in advance about the disclosure and the reasons for this. OBI will only refrain from sharing this information if the law enforcement authority, the competent authority or the court have informed OBI that sharing this information may endanger the associated investigations, inquiries or court proceedings.
All other information which is transmitted will also be treated as strictly confidential in accordance with these measures. This applies, in particular, to the identity of persons who appear within the context of the notified cases as well as the other persons mentioned in the report.
The identity of a whistleblower who intentionally, recklessly or grossly negligently reports incorrect information about violations will, however, not be subject to any protection.
How does OBI ensure data protection?
Before submitting a report via the BKMS® System online tool, the whistleblower is automatically asked to confirm that they have read and understood the privacy statement which has been provided. This privacy statement can be accessed on the introduction page at www.bkms-system.com/obi.
The reports are investigated in compliance with the GDPR and OBI’s internal erasure concept based on this regulation, including the storage and erasure of data and the regulations on internal data transfers.
How does OBI ensure that whistleblowers do not suffer any disadvantages due to a report?
OBI will not take any measures which disadvantage whistleblowers who have submitted a report via the OBI whistleblowing system in good faith and conscience, i.e. at the point in time of submitting the report, they had justified reason to believe that the information was true.
This protection against reprisals also includes (i) natural persons who provide confidential support to the whistleblower with the report or disclosure in a professional context; (ii) third parties who are connected to the whistleblower and who have experienced reprisals in a professional context due to the report or disclosure and (iii) legal entities, partnerships with legal personality and associations of individuals that are legally connected to the whistleblower due to shares or for which the whistleblower works or with which the whistleblower has another professional connection.
On the other hand, whistleblowers who deliberately or grossly negligently provide false information will not receive any protection.
How does OBI review the effectiveness of this complaints process?
OBI reviews the process described in these rules of procedure annually and as needed to ensure its effectiveness. The findings from this process are integrated in this review.
OBI is very grateful for reports concerning whether you found the process to be easily accessible and easy to understand, whether your case was handled confidentially during the process and whether your expectations with regard to resolving the problem were met.
