Whistleblower System

How to use this system

 

This whistleblower system is designed for you to alert the Compliance Team of a situation which you feel is contrary to legal provisions or our own standards and guidelines.

As part of responsible corporate management, visitBerlin regards compliance as one its core values. All employees of Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH (visitBerlin) are required to observe applicable laws, rules and internal guidelines. Only in this way can we ensure that we protect our company and staff, our shareholders and cooperation partners from incidents that may be damaging to them. Since this applies equally to our associated companies (100% subsidiaries of visitBerlin), our whistleblower system can also be used to report compliance issues relating to visitBerlin’s associated companies.


Detecting inappropriate behaviour or irregularities in compliance at an early stage plays a crucial part in limiting possible damage. Moreover, this also enables us to re-think processes and structures and, where necessary, adapt them. In this spirit, we actively encourage employees to raise their concerns as well as external partners such as, for example, business partners or customers.
The whistleblower procedure explained here is, however, not for complaints or grievances, but exclusively for uncovering inappropriate practices and infringements of rules and statutory requirements. To report a concern over our products or services, contact our Berlin Service Center (030/ 2500025).


All concerns submitted to the whistleblower system are treated in confidence. Since the system allows you to report a concern anonymously, you can choose to report anonymously or use your own name. In either case, all reports of alleged malpractice are followed up.  After submitting your message, you are sent a case number. This allows you to log onto the whistleblower system within four weeks to review the state of our investigation. We would, though, ask you to bear in mind that processing a compliance-relevant issue can take several weeks. If you are interested in the result of your concern after the expiry of the deadline of four weeks, re-submit your message to obtain a new case number.

Please note that reporting incidents on compliance-relevant issues must be in good faith and not against your better judgment.

The whistleblower system must not be used to submit information known to be incorrect or slanderous.

Thank you for your support!

Security Advice

 

If you would like to remain anonymous when using this system, we would ask you to note the following:

Do not enter your name or other data that might allow inferences to be drawn about your identity. You are advised to avoid any references to your own area of work and your relationship to persons who, in your opinion, are responsible for the alleged misconduct or inappropriate behaviour.

If possible, do not log your concern on the whistleblower system from your work computer.  You should also bear in mind that uploaded documents may, under some circumstances, also provide an indication of your identity. In such cases, you are advised to remove such references before you upload the documents or, where this is impractical, to refrain from uploading them.

How do you report a concern?

  1. Describe the concern you would like to report and, when you are ready, submit your message.
  2. After you have submitted your message, you will receive a unique case number together with a link so you access the case at a later date.
  3. Your message is then considered and, where appropriate, investigated.
  4. You can view the responses to your message at any time via your case number.
  5. One month after replying to your message, the case is archived and no longer available.

After the response has been posted, you can view it at any time online for a period of one month. Although the visitBerlin Compliance Team will reply to your case as promptly as possible, it is unfortunately not possible to give a guaranteed response time.

I would like to open a case already reported.

I would like to open a case already reported.

I would like to report a new case.

Whistleblower System

The case is no longer available or cannot be identified.

Whistleblower System

Note

 

By clicking “send” your message is sent to the visitBerlin Compliance Team.

 

After submitting your message to visitBerlin, you will receive a unique case number allowing you to check the current status of the case at any time. You have the chance to note down the case number.

Whistleblower System

Examples:
•    Business transactions have been deliberately misrepresented, and/or incorrect or incomplete information provided to third parties, e.g. financial authorities, courts, etc.
•    Persons responsible for supervising business transactions have deliberately neglected their duties or, contrary to their legal responsibilities as an employee, have acted in another way to the detriment of the company.

Corruption refers to corruptibility, bribery, acceptance of an advantage and granting an undue advantage.
A conflict of interests (the employee’s private interests) compromises the objective fulfilment of duties required under the legal responsibilities as an employee.
Examples:
•    Accepting benefits granted by third parties (business partners/customers) intended to prompt an employee to pursue a particular course of behaviour
•    Passing on internal company information/business secrets without authorisation to third parties with the intention of obtaining personal advantages

Committing or attempting to commit offenses against property (illegally appropriating the company’s assets); consciously damaging the company’s asset values with the intention of inflicting damage on the company.     
Examples:
•    Misappropriating entrusted company funds or goods
•    Issuing excessive invoices to retain the balance
•    Insurance fraud
•    Deliberately importing faulty computer programs/viruses etc. into company systems

Examples:
•    Unauthorised use of brands/corporate logos or signs of the company or a third party, e.g., by producing and distributing copies
•    Colluding with a third party (e.g. business competitor) to the disadvantage of the employer/company
•    Deliberately disadvantaging a competitor with the intention of harming them contrary to the provisions of the German Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) or the Act against Restraints on Competition (GWB)
•    Agreements on calls for tenders
•    Giving misleading statements on company products or services

Examples:  
•    Any behaviour of employees or cooperation partners / service providers that infringes the provisions of the General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG)
•    Improper verbal attacks on colleagues or business partners
•    Attempts at unwanted physical touching of colleagues or business partners
•    Causing physical or mental suffering (bodily injury/mobbing)

Actions or refraining from action at variance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or infringing other statutory regulations to protect personal data. 
Examples:

  • Not concluding an agreement for order data processing
  • Destroying data/documents despite a statutory obligation to preserve business records
  • Passing on access data/passwords to unauthorised third parties
  • Using in-company data for personal use

Passing on personal data to unauthorised third parties.

Infringing company agreements, collective agreements or internal organisational procedures.

  • Violating the rules of representation or regulations on the authorisation to sign
  • Inappropriate behaviour towards business partners/customers

Infringements of self-regulating standards of behaviour, e.g. a Code of Conduct

Incidents which do not fit any of the categories above.

If you decided to submit your concern anonymously, make sure your message does not include any details that could indicated your identity. This serves to ensure your anonymity in the course of processing your concern.

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We would ask you to complete the following details, even if they are already included in the description of your concern.

If not applicable, please fill in "x".

Option to upload documents

Sending attachments: You can send us up to 6MB of data. If the data exceeds this amount, you can, if you so wish, send us the requisite documents by post. Indicate the date when sent by post, mark your letter ‘Compliance’ and address it to Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH, Human Resources & Legal Affairs, Am Karlsbad 11, 10785 Berlin.

Follow our Security Advice to ensure that we can preserve your anonymity, if so desired.

We can accept the following file formats as attachments:
PDF DOC DOCX XLS XLSX JPG JPEG AVI MPG MPEG

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