Why should I submit a report?

Compliance with statutory, social and internal company rules is part of a positive and open company culture. In our daily work, we have committed to a mission statement built on integrity and transparency.

You may be aware of actions which are in breach of regulations, particularly in connection with any corruption or other economic crimes or to violations and risks in our environmental or human rights obligations. Or you would like to submit an internal report in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz - HinSchG). You can report these confidentially via our whistleblowing system and thus contribute to the investigation.

Which reports concern VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH?

Reports about violations of legal and internal organizational rules, internal reports in accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz - HinSchG) and reports on human rights violations or environmental damage by the company or the supply chain will be received and forwarded.

You will receive detailed information on the possible categories of a report during the reporting process.

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

If you wish to submit a report (either by name or anonymously), click the ‘Submit report’ button at the top of our introduction page.

The reporting process consists of 4 steps:

1. First, you will be asked to read some information on the protection of your anonymity and answer a security query.
2. On the following page, you will be asked about the category of your report.
3. On the report page, you can elaborate on your report in your own words and answer questions about the case by simply selecting responses. You can enter up to 5,000 characters into the free text field, which corresponds to a full page. You may also submit a file of up to 5 MB to support your report. Please bear in mind that documents can contain information about the author(s). Following the submission of your report, you will receive a reference number to confirm that you have sent this report.
4. Please subsequently set up your own secured postbox. You will receive feedback from us via this postbox and you can also use it to answer questions and receive information about the progress of your report.

If you already have a secured postbox, you can access it directly via the ‘Login’ button. Here, too, you will have to answer a security query first.

As long as you do not enter any data from which conclusions about your identity can be drawn, the technology of BKMS^® System will protect your anonymity.

How do I receive feedback and remain anonymous at the same time?

The BKMS^® System process used here places the utmost importance on protecting the whistleblower. The system’s anonymity protection function is certified by an independent body.

When you set up your secured postbox, you choose your pseudonym/user name and password yourself. This access data is not visible to anyone except you. 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.

Your report is kept anonymous through encryption and other specialised security measures. You never have to provide any personal information if you submit a report anonymously. Do not submit any information that can be traced back to you. Please do not use any device, such as a PC or smartphone, that has been provided by your employer to submit your report.

You will receive feedback which details what is happening with your report via the secured postbox. Via the secured postbox, you can ask or answer questions if any details are still unclear. You remain anonymous throughout the dialogue.