Austria adopted the Whistleblower Protection Act (referred to below as HSchG) in March 2023, thereby transposing the EU Whistleblower Directive (Directive 2019/1937) into national law. This is intended to strengthen the willingness to report violations of the law that are perceived in a professional context. At the same time, it ensures that whistleblowers are protected from retaliation.
At our company, we adhere to the principle of trustworthy collaboration with both our employees and business partners. If you, as an employee, are in contact or cooperate with our company in your daily work (business partners, suppliers, contractors, etc.), please report any violations of the law to us using the report form:
You can use the report form to report any criminal offences related to corruption and bribery, as well as violations of EU laws, specifically those related to public procurement, financial services, product safety and conformity, environmental protection, consumer protection, traffic safety, radiation protection, public health, data protection, and network and information security.
Please comply with the fact that our whistleblowing system can only be used for the violations of law mentioned in the HSchG. For general information, complaints or suggestions, please contact us at office@theurl-holz.at or directly contact the responsible in-house department.
Rest assured that any information you provide will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and will only be handled by the designated members of our Internal Reporting Office. We take great care to ensure that your identity, tips, and all communication with our Reporting Office are kept strictly confidential and safeguarded by suitable technical and organizational measures. After receipt of the report, you will receive an acknowledgement of receipt immediately (within 7 days at the latest). Within 3 months after the acknowledgement of receipt, you will receive feedback regarding the status of the procedure or any follow-up measures taken. The Reporting Office will contact you if there are additional queries.
Whistleblowers are granted protection against adverse consequences and retaliation if they have obtained the information in a professional context and, at the time of reporting, had sufficient reason to believe that the information was justified and true and fell within the scope of the HSchG. Whistleblowers are protected, for example, from negative consequences under labour law (dismissal, reduction of salary, reassignments, etc.), disciplinary measures, blacklisting, discrimination, termination of contract, etc.
Please note that this level of protection does not apply in cases where reports are knowingly false. Such reports will be rejected and may give rise to claims for damages or be prosecuted in court or as an administrative offence.
Other reporting options:
- If you would like a face-to-face meeting, contact us as well via hinweis@theurl-holz.at and we will arrange a face-to-face discussion of the tip within 14 days.
- If it is not feasible, appropriate, or reasonable to report through our system, you may choose to contact an external organization, the Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK): BMI-III-BAK-SPOC@bak.gv.at