Whistleblowing and Complaints Procedure

The purpose of Kräuter Mix’s reporting office is to identify any risks or infractions, both within the company and along the supply chain, at an early stage so that effective countermeasures can be put in place.

Trust and cooperation are core values at Kräuter Mix. Fraud, corruption and other crimes, as well as infractions and violations of national or EU law, are not tolerated in our company. If any employees, business partners or third parties encounter any breaches of these principles in the course of your work with us, or have reasonable cause to suspect a breach has taken place, please inform our reporting office.

This especially applies to any human rights violations or environmental risks that come to light via our company’s actions, either in our own line of business or within the supply chain.

The reporting office can be contacted both by our direct employees and by any other person or concerned party at any point in the supply chain.

You can send any information via email to the address provided above. Please attach any documents, pictures or other evidence to help us process your report.

Kräuter Mix employees can also find information on all available reporting channels and contact persons in the company’s internal code of conduct handbook.

All reports received will be held in the strictest confidence in accordance with the law. Information will only be passed on to those who are directly involved in investigating and processing the case. This helps us ensure that all reports are handled responsibly and discreetly, to protect the rights of those affected. The identity of the person providing the information will only be passed on to the person processing the case with their consent.

In accordance with the law, we ensure that whistleblowers do not need to fear punishment, discrimination or any other negative consequences. We guarantee that reports can be made without risk to the reporting individual and are processed in order to promote a responsible, open culture within the company.

Our reporting office is interested in any information or inquiries related to compliance, rule violations by the company or its employees, and risks of breaches to human rights or environmental standards within our supply chain.

Here are some specific examples of information that can be reported:

• Violations of national law, e.g. corruption, fraud, environmental crimes, etc.
• Administrative offenses related to protecting the lives or health and safety of employees, e.g. violations of occupational health and safety regulations, the Temporary Employment Act or the Minimum Wage Act, as well as failure to comply with reporting, licensing, auditing, documentation or disclosure obligations relating to occupational health and safety, etc.
• Violations of federal and state legislation enacted to implement certain European regulations, as well as violations of applicable EU law, e.g. data protection, product safety or environmental protection laws (see Section 2 (3) of the Whistleblower Protection Act)
• Any risks to or breaches of duty regarding human rights or the environment within Kräuter Mix’s supply chain, e.g. child labor, forced labor, slavery, sexual exploitation, non-compliance with health and safety or minimum wage laws, or environmental crimes such as contamination of soil, water or air, improper storage and disposal of waste, etc.

We ensure that reports made in all languages are processed accordingly. You may provide us with information in any language.

• Receipt: First of all, the report is received by the person responsible for whistleblower protection (= report recipient) at Kräuter Mix. We ensure that only authorized persons have access to the report and that no one can gain access to the information without authorization.
• Confirmation of receipt: After you make your report, you will receive confirmation of the receipt of your report via email within the legal deadline. This will be sent to the email address that you used to make your report, unless you provided alternative contact details, in which case the confirmation will be sent there instead. If necessary, the report recipient will ask the whistleblower any clarifying questions about the content of the report.
• Investigation of the report: Next, the report recipient will decide, on a case-by-case basis, which department will conduct the investigation. This may be an internal department within Kräuter Mix. Alternatively, the report may be forwarded to a competent authority for processing. Information will only be passed on if absolutely necessary and only to the scope required to process the case. In particular, the identity of the whistleblower will only be divulged if this is necessary to process the case and the whistleblower gives their consent. Data is handled with confidentiality at all times.
• Measures to be taken: During the investigation, the department responsible for processing the case will examine all relevant documents and interview witnesses and people involved. If necessary, the whistleblower will be asked clarifying questions, either by the report recipient or, if the whistleblower has allowed their identity to be forwarded, directly by the investigating department. In the event of any legal questions external lawyers or consultancy services may be contacted, always ensuring compliance with confidentiality.
  After the report has been investigated, the responsible department establishes the next steps and measures to be taken. Every investigation is carried out fairly, respectfully and objectively, without prejudice. If any person involved in investigating the report finds it difficult to make an objective judgment, they are obligated to report their conflict of interest.
• Information to the whistleblower: The whistleblower will – within the applicable legal deadline – be informed of the outcome of the investigation into their report, as well as the current state of affairs and any preventive or remedial measures taken.
• Documentation: Kräuter Mix is subject to documentation requirements under the law. All communication with the whistleblower and the person in charge of processing the case as well as all measures and outcomes resulting from the investigation (such as recommendations for disciplinary measures like dismissal, warning or relocation, or other remedial measures like risk management or other internal processes) are documented. Documentation will be destroyed or deleted after a retention period of three years. If any personal data is processed, this will be carried out exclusively in accordance with the applicable data protection laws.

If you wish to arrange an in-person meeting, please state this in your report or follow-up communication. The person responsible for whistleblower protection will then get in touch with you.

The reporting office inbox is completely independent of the company’s main system, which prevents any unauthorized access. It is also not technically possible to gain unauthorized access to any audio recordings from the telephone hotline.

Whistleblowers are afforded special protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act and the Supply Chain Act, as long as the report does not contain any deliberately falsified facts or incorrect information. This means that the whistleblower is not at risk of negative consequences. All reports will be handled with the strictest confidence and processed exclusively by the responsible persons. Your identity will not be disclosed without your consent.