The waff whistleblowing system

What is the whistleblowing system in waff used for?

You can use the whistleblowing system in waff to submit reports, either by name or anonymously, on violations of laws, regulations or internal rules.

This system protects you and provides you with a secure communication platform. The system must not be used to knowingly submit false or slanderous reports or information. Setting up a digital postbox also allows us to communicate with you anonymously.

Who is this platform aimed at and why should I submit a report?

The whistleblowing platform is aimed at all employees, business partners, customers and stakeholders of waff.

In performing their tasks for the company, waff naturally expects its employees to comply with laws, regulations and internal rules. Improper behaviour on the part of individuals may threaten the company’s success and damage the company’s image.

To protect the company and its employees, waff actively investigates specific indications of potential violations within the company. If you are aware of or have specific indications of any violations at waff, please report this information to us.
By doing so, you will be helping us to uncover malpractice at an early stage and thus ensure waff’s long-term success.

What information can I report?

If you have any cause for concern that waff employees are not acting in the interests of waff or are behaving improperly, for example receiving bribes, misusing their professional position for personal gain, perhaps even engaging in unlawful activities, you will be helping us by reporting the case in question.

The categories in the whistleblowing system are corruption and financial crime, violations of the EU Whistleblowing Directive and other serious breaches of laws and regulations.

Please note that general enquires, requests or complaints cannot be accepted via the whistleblowing system.

What is the process for submitting a report? How do I set up a postbox?

To submit an anonymous or personalised report, start by clicking the ‘Submit report’ button at the top of our introduction page.

There are 4 steps to the report process:

1. A text providing information on the protection of your anonymity is displayed. Please read the text and complete the security query.
2. On the following page, you will be asked about the category of your report.
3. In the next step, you decide whether or not you wish to remain anonymous. If you do not wish to remain anonymous, please provide your name. You can write your report in your own words and answer questions about the report by simply selecting responses. You can type up to 5,000 characters into the free text field, which is approximately equal to one full page of A4 paper. You may also submit a file of up to a maximum size of 5 MB to support your report. Please note that files may contain information about the author. Therefore, erase the metadata before uploading the files. If you wish to remain anonymous, do not enter any information that can be traced back to you, and please do not use any device, such as a PC or smartphone, that has been provided by your employer to submit your report.
4. When you have submitted your report, you will receive a reference number for confirmation purposes. Please save or make a note of this reference number.

Please decide whether you wish to set up a secured postbox now. The secured postbox allows us to get in touch with you if we have any questions about your report. This can be important for cases in which clarification is required.

If you have already set up a secured postbox, you can access it directly via the ‘Login’ button. Here, too, you will have to answer a security query first. After this, you can send an addition to an existing report or send a new report.

Will I receive information and feedback on the processing of my report?

Yes, if you set up a secured postbox.

When you set up your secured postbox, you choose your pseudonym/ user name and password yourself. Your report is kept anonymous through encryption and other specialised security measures. These credentials are not visible to anyone except yourself.

You never have to provide any personal information if you submit a report anonymously. In this case, do not submit any information that can be traced back to you! Please do not use a device provided by your employer to submit your report.

Via the secured postbox, the waff internal reporting office will give you feedback about the further processing of your report or ask you questions if some details are still unclear – you remain anonymous throughout the dialogue.

If you lose your login information, please submit a new report and set up a new postbox. If possible, please provide the reference number of your previous report. The new postbox will no longer contain any content associated with your previous report.

How do I remain anonymous and how will my data be protected?

Your report will be encrypted, secured by special security measures and stored in an external database in a high-security data centre. Your data is protected against unauthorised access because the message cannot be traced back to you. You do not have to provide any personal details at any point in the reporting process. If you wish to remain anonymous, do not enter any information that can be traced back to you, and please do not use any device, such as a PC or smartphone, that has been provided by your employer to submit your report.

When you set up your secured postbox, you select your own user name and password. This login information is not visible to anyone except you.

In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, your personal data is treated strictly confidentially and not shared with third parties. In accordance with the need-to-know principle, only a very small number of people are familiar with your report. After the expiration of specified periods, all personal data is permanently deleted.