External hotline for integrity breaches
APK Group is a champion of corporate social responsibility and ethics and therefore places great importance on combating discrimination and (attempted) fraud and/or bribery. Indeed, we set high standards for ourselves to ensure that we are a company worthy of your trust.
APK Group therefore wants to give every person the opportunity to report circumstances that may be inconsistent with APK Group's core values, its fraud and integrity policy and/or applicable laws and regulations.
For this reason, APK Group has implemented an external reporting channel made available to all employees and to other stakeholders (suppliers, subcontractors, trade unions, customers, etc.).
The system is secure, easy to use, confidential and anonymous if needed.
How does it work?
Stakeholders can make their report(s) through EthicsAlert, a secure web application made available by a specialised independent third party.
1. You can make a report (anonymously or not) 24/7 via EthicsAlert in four languages (Dutch, French, German and English). You will then receive a unique security code that will allow you to follow up the report and/or enter into a confidential dialogue with our internal report manager.
2. Upon receipt of the notification, the internal notification manager will check the admissibility and arrange for an initial assessment. You will be informed of the admissibility.
3. The internal reporting manager then makes an opinion on APK Group's Reporting Committee for further action.
4. The Reporting Committee of APK Group, consisting of representatives of the Internal Audit Committee, the Legal Department and HR, will decide on the basis of the aforementioned opinion whether and, if so, by whom, by what means and with what methodology the further investigation will be carried out.
5. Upon completion of the further investigation, the Reporting Committee will report back to You the result and the action taken, through internal reporting manager or otherwise. .
The secure reporting platform aims to receive, investigate and assess suspected violations in a user-friendly and confidential manner. To ensure the anonymity of the reporter, as well as the integrity and confidentiality of the report, a very strict encryption technique is used.
Specifically, this means that APK Group cannot find out the identity of the reporter by any means, unless the reporter chooses to disclose his (or her) identity.
In any event, APK Group will always process the data in accordance with its Privacy statement.
Reports of breaches of legislation can also be made to the external private sector authority, specifically the Federal Ombudsman. You can find the reporting option to the Federal Ombudsman at https://www.federaalombudsman.be/nl/meldingsformulier.