Two men shaking hands in a bright office entrance, symbolizing a professional and welcoming business environment.

Internal reporting office of the BOGE Group

Have you become aware of a possible violation of laws or of our Code of Conduct? Then you can contact our internal reporting office in confidence.

The reporting office is open to all employees of the companies of the BOGE Group worldwide. This also includes apprentices, interns, temporary agency workers assigned to us and members of management. In addition, any other person can contact the reporting office, for example applicants, former employees, customers or suppliers. If your company has its own reporting office under local law, you can also use that office.

You can report violations within the BOGE Group of laws or of our Code of Conduct, in particular criminal offences, certain administrative offences and violations of rules on product safety, environmental protection, data protection, public procurement, competition and occupational safety. Which violations enjoy special statutory protection depends on applicable whistleblower protection law. If you are not sure whether your concern is covered, report it anyway. The reporting office will check this for you. The reporting office is not responsible for product complaints, service or contract matters. Please contact your usual BOGE contacts for these.

How to reach the internal reporting office

We have entrusted the tasks of the internal reporting office to an external lawyer who is bound by professional secrecy:

Compliance Officer Services Legal

Rechtsanwalt Stephan Rheinwald

Telemannstraße 22

53173 Bonn, Germany

Phone: +49 228 35036291

Fax: +49 228 35036262

Email: s.rheinwald@cos-legal.eu

You can submit your report by phone, email, fax or post, in German or English. The reporting office can be reached by phone on working days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (German time). Upon request, a personal meeting will be arranged within a reasonable time. Personal meetings take place in Germany, usually at the law firm in Bonn.

You can also submit your report anonymously. If you contact the reporting office by name, your identity will only be disclosed to BOGE with your express consent. A report giving your name makes follow-up questions and thus the clarification of the facts easier.

Report by phone Report by mail

What happens after your report?

The internal reporting office confirms receipt no later than seven days after receipt, provided that you can be reached, and then examines the report. If necessary, it asks you for further information. It coordinates any necessary follow-up measures with the competent, impartial body of the BOGE Group company concerned. If the report concerns members of management, a body independent of management is responsible. No later than three months after confirming receipt, it informs you of planned or completed follow-up measures and the reasons for them. If receipt was not confirmed, the period is three months and seven days from receipt of the report. Feedback is only given insofar as it does not affect investigations or the rights of other persons. The examination may take longer than three months depending on the facts. If the procedure is closed for lack of evidence, you will be informed of this and the reasons.

Confidentiality and protection

The identity of the whistleblower, of the persons concerned by the report and of other persons named in it is treated confidentially. Access is granted only to persons responsible for handling the report or for necessary follow-up measures. The identity is disclosed only where permitted or required by law.

If, at the time of the report, you have reasonable grounds to believe that your information is true and that a violation covered by applicable whistleblower protection law exists, you are protected against reprisals, that is, against disadvantages because of your report. For employees in Germany, the following also applies: if you suffer a disadvantage after a report, it is presumed by law to be a reprisal. BOGE would then have to prove the opposite. Knowingly false reports are not protected.

Internal or external report

Under applicable law, you can generally choose freely whether to contact our internal reporting office or a competent external reporting office. If BOGE can take effective internal action against the possible violation and you need not fear any disadvantages, we recommend using the internal reporting office first. The option of an external report remains available. Within the EU, external reporting offices are the authorities designated under Directive (EU) 2019/1937, in other countries the authorities competent under local law.

For employees in Germany: In addition to the general federal external reporting office at the Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz), further external reporting offices may be responsible depending on the subject matter, in particular the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), reporting offices of the federal states or relevant bodies of the European Union. An overview of responsibilities, external reporting procedures and ways to submit a report is available here:

Federal Office of Justice, federal external reporting office: www.bundesjustizamt.de

Information on data protection can be found on the following pages of this information sheet.

Data protection for reports to the internal reporting office

Information pursuant to articles 13 and 14 of the General Data Protection Regulation

This information applies to whistleblowers, to persons who are the subject of a report and to other persons whose personal data are processed in connection with a report.

Who is the controller and who operates the reporting office?

The controller for the whistleblowing procedure and the processing of personal data by the internal reporting office is:

BOGE KOMPRESSOREN Otto Boge GmbH & Co. KG

Otto-Boge-Straße 1–7
33739 Bielefeld, Germany
Phone: +49 5206 601-0
Email: datenschutz@boge.de

If a report concerns another company of the BOGE Group, that company is independently responsible for the follow-up measures carried out by it.

The following has been entrusted with independently receiving, examining and handling reports as the externally operated internal reporting office:

Compliance Officer Services Legal
Rechtsanwalt Stephan Rheinwald

Telemannstraße 22
53173 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49 228 35036291
Fax: +49 228 35036262
Email: s.rheinwald@cos-legal.eu

You can reach BOGE's Data Protection Officer at:

Thomas Otten

Phone: +49 5221 87292-08
Email: datenschutz-boge@audatis.de

For what purposes are data processed?

Personal data are processed in order to

receive, examine and document reports,
communicate with the whistleblower,
clarify the reported facts,
initiate necessary follow-up measures,
ensure the confidentiality and protection of the persons involved, and
assert, exercise or defend legal claims.

Processing is carried out in particular on the basis of Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR in conjunction with Sections 10 and 12 to 18 of the German Whistleblower Protection Act (HinSchG). Where employee data are processed, Section 26 of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) may additionally apply. Insofar as BOGE handles reports or follow-up measures beyond the statutory obligations of the HinSchG, in particular reports from companies of the BOGE Group that are not subject to the HinSchG, processing may be based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. The legitimate interests consist in clarifying and ending possible violations of law throughout the BOGE Group and in asserting, exercising or defending legal claims. Such processing only takes place insofar as the interests, fundamental rights or fundamental freedoms of the data subjects do not prevail. Special categories of personal data are only processed insofar as this is necessary and permissible under Art. 9(2)(g) GDPR in conjunction with Section 10 HinSchG. Personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences are only processed insofar as this is necessary and permissible under Art. 10 GDPR in conjunction with the relevant statutory provisions.

Audio recordings and verbatim records are only made with your prior consent. Otherwise, a summary record is prepared. You can check, correct and confirm the record by signing it. Audio recordings are deleted once the record has been completed.

Which data may be processed?

Only the data required for handling the report are processed. These may include in particular:

name and contact details of the whistleblower, if provided,
information on the persons concerned by or named in the report,
information on the professional context,
the facts described, and
communications, documents and other evidence.

The data generally originate from the report itself. Further information may result from follow-up questions, submitted documents, internal investigations, statements by other persons, information from authorities or publicly available sources.

Use of the reporting channel is generally voluntary. However, sufficient information on the facts is required for a proper examination. Without a way to contact you, an acknowledgement of receipt, follow-up questions and feedback are not possible.

Who receives the data?

Access is granted exclusively to the persons authorised to handle reports at the internal reporting office and to persons who are responsible for or support necessary follow-up measures.

Insofar as necessary for the examination or clarification and legally permissible, data may be transferred to specially authorised functions within the BOGE Group company concerned, to advisors bound by confidentiality and to competent authorities or courts. If the company concerned is located outside the EU or the EEA, data are only transferred under the conditions of Articles 44 et seq. GDPR, in particular on the basis of EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

The identity of the whistleblower is only disclosed in the exceptional cases provided for by law or, where necessary for follow-up measures, with separate consent.

How long are the data stored?

The documentation of a report is generally deleted three years after the conclusion of the procedure. Longer storage only takes place if and for as long as it is necessary and proportionate to comply with statutory requirements or to assert, exercise or defend legal claims.

What rights do you have?

Subject to the statutory requirements, you have in particular the rights of access, rectification, erasure and restriction of processing. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests on grounds relating to your particular situation. Any consent given may be withdrawn at any time with effect for the future.

These rights may be restricted where this is required by law to protect the identity of the whistleblower, the rights of other persons or ongoing investigations.

You may also lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular the authority in the place of your habitual residence or place of work, or the authority competent for BOGE:

Landesbeauftragten für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen

Postfach 20 04 44
40102 Düsseldorf, Germany
www.ldi.nrw.de

Information for persons concerned

If personal data are collected about a person concerned by or named in a report, that person is generally informed within the statutory periods. The information may be postponed or restricted as long as it would jeopardise the examination of the facts, impair evidence or disclose legally protected confidential information. Once the reason for the postponement no longer applies, the information is provided, unless a statutory exception applies.

No exclusively automated decision-making or profiling takes place.